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But that’s the problem, you see: There are no more pilots flying these planes. The real pilots have nearly all retired, leaving a bunch of “computer geeks” who have almost no flying skills and only know how to operate the computerized, automated flight equipment which is subject to catastrophic failure.

That’s what “Pilot X” told me in a phone interview. His identity is being secret for his own protection, but he recently retired from over two decades of flying Boeing’s largest aircraft for major U.S. airlines. He has received more actual flight time than 99% of today’s active commercial pilots, and he’s an expert in Boeing flight automation equipment. His testimony, below, reveals insider details that only a real commercial pilot would know.

“The bigger the plane, the worse the pilot,” he told me. “The airlines are trying to dumb down most of the entire fleet, and the pilots are losing all their flying skills. They don’t want pilots; they want computer geeks instead of someone who can actually fly. The stick-and-rudder skills go to hell in a hand basket when you don’t actually fly the plane.”

The SFO flight 214 accident was likely caused by the pilot relying on the auto-throttle, Pilot X explained to me. “There’s too much reliance on the auto-throttle. If you’re a real pilot, you can do much better than the auto-throttle by running the power yourself to stay in line with whatever approach you’re making.”

The other pilot on the flight deck was also partially responsible for failing to do his job, I was told:

“The non-flying pilot was not using CRM (crew resources management) where you call out the controls and altitude all the way down. They also had the glide slope switched off, and those two runways are too close together to be doing real close approaches.”