Originally Posted by
reelbigchair
Yes the pilots are responsible for the safety of the aircraft, nobody here is saying otherwise. I'm saying, it could've been any one of us. This is a mistake, plain and simple. I believe that you have to go a lot farther to find negligence in this particular accident. These pilots were not "cowboys" living by their own rules. They were operating their aircraft in a safe and responsible manner. They made no choices that significantly increased the likelihood of a crash. They didn't ignore checklists, they didn't fly into terrible weather, they didn't show up drunk. If they had done any of those things, or similar things, then I would buy into the negligence. They made a tragic mistake of turning onto the wrong runway. Nobody in the flight deck (I believe there were 3 of them) noticed. So three fully trained airline pilots, all with significant experience, made a terrible mistake. They, however, were not negligent, which is something I believe SHOULD be necessary for a successful lawsuit against the pilots. Unfortunately in our country, I'm afraid that won't be necessary.
I do not agree, they were negligent. Any time there are accidents involving human frailties there is negligence. By definition when the pilots lined up on the wrong runway they were negligent, to what degree will be determined by the courts. If human beings could be perfectly vigilant we could eliminate the human factor from accidents. These pilots made a choice to disregard a couple of procedures or checks which delivered them to the seen of the accident. If they were being adequately vigilant the result of their flight would have been the same outcome as the rest of the flights that operated in LEX that day before them. If we want to in some way suggest this crew was operating responsibly the best I can offer is to say they were not being reckless.