I hazard a guess that we won't be surprised.
Another FReeper posted the following the other day (I have not seen sourcing):
The first officer, who was in her fifth straight day of flying, was at the controls of the crashed plane.
She had 1,422 hours of flying total.......
below the FAA minimum to be a commercial pilot.
She was able to fly unsuspecting passengers with a “special exception” from the FAA because she had a specific aviation degree and “received a waiver”...
h/t Liz
It’s unclear, at least to me, whether you are referring here to the DC collision or the Canadian crash. IIRC the DC collision is/will be attributed to the H-60’s altitude being higher than its cleared altitude (pilot error). Whereas this Canadian crash initially appears to be overly high rate of descent causing landing gear structural failure (pilot error). Just my $.02 observation.
Either way, pretty sure both will be deemed to be pilot error.
She had 1,422 hours of flying total.......
below the FAA minimum to be a commercial pilot.
The minimum for a commercial pilot is 250 hours. For the Airline Transport Rating the minimus is 1500 hours unless the pilot has a bachelors degree in Aviation Science then it’s 1000 hours and if the pilot has an associates degree in Aviation Science it’s 1250 hours. So likely. she met the requirement for this position. However, the judgement is another question. Ultimately it was the the Pilot in Command’s responsibility to assure the safety of the flight and clearly that didn’t happen,.
This is A LIE and those who insist on repeating it should be banned from this site.
Title 14 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 61 Subpart F — Commercial Pilots§ 61.129 Aeronautical experience.
For an airplane multiengine rating. Except as provided in paragraph (i) of this section, a person who applies for a commercial pilot certificate with an airplane category and multiengine class rating must log at least 250 hours of flight time as a pilot that consists of at least:
(1) 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in airplanes.
(2) 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least—
(i) 50 hours in airplanes; and
(ii) 50 hours in cross-country flight of which at least 10 hours must be in airplanes.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-F