Originally Posted by
sfoeuroflyer
There is an elephant in the room. Third world pilots don't know how to fly. They are simply managers of the video game that is the cockpit. They don't know the aircraft systems and don't know how or when to hand fly the plane. The Asiana pilots who pranged the 777 at SFO are a perfect example. The cockpit recordings of Lion Air show the pilots were morons who did not understand the aircraft. Sometimes even non third world pilots don't know how to fly...example the Air France crash in South America where too late the captain came back into the cockpit to see the co-pilot fly the plane into the ocean. As I see it (and I am a pilot) what is going on is hysteria, grounding of an aircraft type, not because it is unsafe, but because too many airlines don't train their flight crews properly.
Since you are a pilot, you no doubt understand the concept of Minimally Qualified Candidate. This concept is used to sanction pilots, doctors, engineers, and many other professions. Aircraft must (and in most recent history have) be designed to not kill a Minimally Qualified Candidate. Are there better pilots and worse pilots? Yes, of course there are, but it’s statistically impossible to have all better pilots. That’s why the concept of Minimally Qualified is used. But to use a broad brush to disparage “third world” pilots is at best out of touch.
If you are saying the MQC bar needs to be raised, I take no issue. Yes, pilots need to know the aircraft, but in order for that to happen the aircraft manufacturers have to make the information available. With the MAX 8/9 it is well documented that this did not happen until recent events forced it into view. This is a global challenge, and yes there are things that are broken, but solving it requires a global inclusive approach.