Why would an experienced crew crash a perfectly functional Boeing 777 on what should have been a simple everyday approach and landing in perfect weather? The jury is still out on the official cause of the Asiana crash but most experienced airline pilots have heard enough to know this is most likely a case of gross pilot error. San Francisco runway 28 left had so few electronic landing aids operable, the Asiana pilots had no choice but to do a visual approach. (An approach without electronic guidance using visual runway references only). This should not be a problem for any experienced pilot. But the black box details have already revealed the pilots continued their approach even though it was so poorly executed, recovery became impossible. The underlying reason of their error is one that is both simple and frightening and one that we see occurring more and more frequently. Airline pilots are losing their ability to fly their aircraft. Overreliance on automation has degraded airline...(Read Full Post)