So, you're saying his approx 3600hrs of acquired time in a "controlled" 121 environment made him less qualified in this instance than he would have been had he acquired more time as a flight instructor or night freight dog to scare himself a little more? (BTW...I know thats a horrible run-on sentence )

 

Agreed. I think everyone should be forced to fly some single pilot part 135 freight. It forces you to learn how to operate an aircraft outside the 121 spoon fed flying environment. There is a difference between pilots who have flown 135 and who have "grown up" in the highly structured airline world.

 

No, I'm offering up an opinion as to why hiring 600 hour pilots at airlines maybe isn't the best idea. His experience level may be a factor in why he lost control of a perfectly good airplane on a routine approach. We'll never really know.

 

Tinpusher - to answer your question, my opinion is yes. As far as being "qualified", in the eyes of the FAA and Colgan, he was qualified. Expierenced, well thats a different matter. Had he flown some 135 freight, yes, he would have had more expierience that may have helped their situation.

 

That is a very valid point. However, I think the focus on experience is being played up a little bit here. How much experience does one need to not let speed decay below that of Vs? The fact that neither pilot noticed until they got the shaker is the real issue in my opinion.

 

You have a point, but i think that what experience gives one is the realization that things can go wrong and will.

This capt basically has not had to make a decision by himself ever. He paid to be a copilot at what 400 tt? that left approx 150-200 hours of any type of flying where he was responsible for decisions. To me the flaw here is obvious.

Yes everyone has to start somewhere, but the lack of a wide breath of exposure to what can happen imo doomed this crew and their passengers.

 

Bottom line. Is it safe to fly on a regional airline?

If the answer is "maybe", or "it depends", then we have a serious problem.

There are many excellent pilots but there are also an increasing number that have no business up there in that cockpit with 50 or 100 lives depending on them. Everybody in this industry knows it.

How in the he!! do we find ourselves operating a commercial flight with 50 passengers into Buffalo NY on a stormy winter night with a pilot who has never seen ice on an airplane before? And she's paid $16,000 a year, lives with her parents and serves coffee and donuts to supplement her income.
Not to mention the captain's highly questionable background and experience.
This accident disgusts me.

Are airline pilots willing to stand up and say in public that their airline may not be safe? Do we have the guts?
Is ALPA willing to play the safety card?

If you want real change then that's what its going to take.

 

Point taken, but I would not go to work if I felt it was unsafe. The only person whose a$$ I care more about keeping safe than the pax in the back is my own!

 

I agree that there needs to be mandated minimum number of hours for 121 flying but i also think that there needs to be a minimum experience in the specific airplane. You cant plop somebody, especially someone who barely made it through training straight into the left seat of an airplane they have never been in. Make captains spend a few pairings in the right seat before moving over to the left seat of a new airplane.

 

I agree with you on both points, but isn't OE designed to get people familiar with the plane??? Captain time during OE would certainly be more valuable than FO time in the same plane.

Hire minimums to get into 121 is a must though. People should have to have made a few decisions without the aid of a flight instructor before proceeding to the airlines.