I find it hard to believe that somebody who gets through the PPL exams (which are not trivial) could be so stupid.
It has to be training. I would query the pilot's training record.
I suppose it could also be someone who has been flying for many years in a very "remote" environment where there was nobody around, and his/her attitudes to procedures have gradually degraded.
There are lots of things which to "us" may be obvious but if you stand back and put yourself into the shoes of the average person they won't be obvious.
There was a renter at Shoreham who rented a PA28. He started up with the towbar in (lots of people have done that - even "good" pilots), took a chunk out of the prop (about 2cm x 2cm - I saw it later), chucked the damaged towbar into some grass so it would not be found, went for a flight, came back, put the plane away, and said nothing. Now, aside from the bad attitude towards others' property (which is hardly uncommon), he was obviously never told that his life was in danger if flying with that sort of damage. It's common to get a strike on a lawn mower and all the time it still runs you keep cutting grass with it. Eventually it falls to bits so you buy another one for £300 (a repair of the old one might be the same). Why not do the same with a plane?
Recently, I was at the holding point, lined up downwind instead of into the wind for the engine checks. This is actually another widely badly handled training point. Loads of pilots go to massive lengths to do power checks into the wind. In light winds this is pointless. In strong winds it is better otherwise the wind tries to grab the controls. But the usual reason given (engine overheating) is usually bollocks. The engine gets nowhere near overheating. You just end up facing the wrong way at the holding point and have to do a huge turn to get to the runway entrance. Crap training there. Anyway, another chap, PA28, taxied up behind me and duly turned himself into the wind, and then because his back was close to my back he smashed my controls hard against the stops when he did his power checks. Another bit of crap training. If I had been a taildragger and not a 1400kg low wing, my plane could have been blown off the tarmac. A Tiger Moth would have just disappeared...
Unfortunately there is no culture here to question the training process and there is even less culture for there to be any sort of comeback.
I am sure that, given the present system where basically anybody who throws enough money at it can get a PPL eventually, instructors don't want to be questioned about past students.
Which brings us to the two-yearly flight with an instructor, after which the instructor will sign you off provided he survives the flight... another lost opportunity.
