I get asked about this from non-aviation folks all the time and it drives me nuts.
The Colgan accident was poor airmanship and was ridiculously preventable. Watch the NTSB animation.
The answer is that the captain failed pretty much every checkride he ever had. Why doesn't anybody focus on that part?
I'm all in favor of training standards and aerobatic training...but really--at some point we have to draw the line when it comes to the left and right seats.
I don't know...maybe if you failed your Private, Instrument, Commercial and ATP ratings you need to do something else.