Originally Posted by
Dave Fitzgerald
Whoa there cowboy. The experience level at many commuters was shockingly low. It's amazing that more of this type of Colgan accident hadn't happened more often.
Arbitrary and knee jerk? I disagree. The ATP requirement was a very logical place to make the distinction. General incompetence is a corollary to inexperience.
Since the rule has been enacted, there have been very few incidents, and only 1 fatality, which was SW's engine failure--in the US.
There a lots of ATP's out there. Just no one willing to work for the regional pay.
I agree with your sentiments, cowboy. Entry level regional pilots had absurdly low time, but how many hours did Captain Renslow have?
I am talking about that specific accident. And that one accident catalyzed the entire movement to fix something.
I'm not saying the ruling was bad. I support it 100%. We needed to start somewhere. But I think the increased training standards and rest rules have played an equal if not greater role in the safest few years we've seen.