There is one prominent issue in the national media following the accident of Asiana 214 (AAR 214): pilot qualification. Several articles, TV news shows, and diaries here at Daily Kos have taken issue with the 43 hours of flying time logged in the 777 by the flying pilot (PF), a captain (CA) in transition training to the 777. Commenter mention the nearly 10,000 hours he had logged in other aircraft almost in passing but the obvious story is the question of why a pilot with such a low time in type would ever be allowed to fly an international airline jet with 307 souls on board.
Why indeed? I think the average person might reasonably ask himself how 43 hours of flying time in a technological marvel like the 777 could possibly be adequate experience for the pilot at the controls of a flight from Seoul, South Korea, to San Francisco, SFO. Were it only 43 hours I might agree to being concerned. Two things stand in the way of me holding such a concern: the aforementioned 10k hours and the hoops this pilot had leap through to find himself in the left seat of a 777. Lets look at that road.
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