On Feb 13, 8:19*am, Mxsmanic wrote:
An interesting PBS Frontline documentary on how the business models of the
major airlines are throwing away safety ...


I don't think I'd go that far, but I would agree that the beancounters
at the major airlines seem to have found a way to "cash in" some of
their exemplary safety record for a little more profit by
subcontracting some of their flights to the (cheaper) regional
airlines. Especially since, according to the documentary, they are
not liable when things go wrong with their subcontractors. (Is this
true?). It looks like they get away with it because their customers
aren't aware that the subcontractor is a totally independent entity,
and that it might not have the same attention to safety that the major
carrier does.

The accident itself is still a mystery to me. I only saw the first
half of the show, but that part made it look like the crew made some
very fundamental errors; not maintaining airspeed, and a very strange
response to the stall. Has there been any other analysis (made
public) that explains the captain pulling back on the stick during the
stall?