Look the pilot’s last transmission was a request for clearance to a higher altitude due to bad weather and was denied that permission... that doesn’t sound like problem with automation or the pilot, sounds like air traffic control being a problem
Based on what I have read on this incident, this is a busy flight corridor, and there were multiple planes at higher altitude in the area at the time.
Do ATC's just automatically approve every request from pilots? If so, what is the point in even asking ?
The ATC's did approve his request a few minutes later AFTER they made sure there would be no conflict, but the Pilot/copilot did not respond(the assumption being that they crashed or were in the process of crashing).
IF the ATC's had instantly given the OK, and Flight 8501 had then crashed into another airliner, wouldn't you be blaming them for the crash ? Don't we want them to CHECK before they give the OK ?