First, when I read the initial reports and saw the First Officer had 200 hours. I assumed it meant 200 hours IN-TYPE. Has it been established that the FO only had 200TT?
If so, and if he was the pilot-in-command, it’s no wonder he wasn’t familiar with a runaway stab condition. In all likelihood, the only in-flight emergency he ever experienced was in a simulator.
Second, the Lion Air aircraft had had issues with the AoA on previous flights prior to the fatal flight. One of the AoA units was supposedly changed, but the problem continued. A maintenance order was written, but the maintenance was never done. The crew may have taken off with a faulty AoA.
Lastly, not knocking foreign-trained crews, but I remember a crash that occurred (I believe) in San Francisco where the ILS was reported to be inoperative. The crew apparently didn’t have the skill necessary to shoot the approach, came in low and struck the approach lights and ended up on a jetty with loss of life. With the technology available in commercial aircraft today, I wonder if we’ve lost the ability to “stick and rudder” an aircraft?
I am not a commercial pilot. I used to fly private but haven’t flown in years. It is amazing to see how advanced and complicated aircraft have become. And...I would bet that now most airlines are run by CEO’s who are more concerned with P&L than with passenger and crew safety.
I don’t know, I didn’t read the account. I was commenting on two things: the excellent aspect of FR where I have encountered people who are experts on everything from the energy sector to sailing, and secondly, the concept that I have heard foreign-trained pilots have far less consistency in expertise and training...and it shows. I have heard it from both air traffic controllers and from pilots, so I think there is something to it.