On Jun 20, 12:38*pm, wrote:

My opinion is all the sensory inputs (of which those only "flying" sims
have no clue) along with the the huge responsibility of flying an aircraft
full of other people would likely overwhelm the average non-pilot.

And since all pilots are trained "to follow instructions precisely", that
becomes two reasons that a random pilot has better chances of success than
a random non-pilot.

EXACTLY.

Case in point.

I flew a Cessna for the first time in 8 years. I was told the
avionics was similar to my Garmin 430 so I should not have ANY problem
adopting to the plane.

Sadly that was wrong and had I not had a pilot with me, I would still
be scratching my head trying to tune the frequency. Radio was such to
get odd numbers on the last two digits of the frequency, you had to
PULL the knob out and twist. 117.9, I had to pull the knob out to
dial in the 7. I didn't have to do that.

I cannot imagine the NON pilot even setting the altimeter since you
have to know to look for the kohlsman window to set it (if they find
the thing at all in the myriad of instruments on a jet) Experience
of the FA having pilot background was just one less step. She
probably didn't even have to be told where the PTT was on the yoke AND
that it's not a two way function like a telephone. I wouldn't expect
the non pilot to know this if they had to step up to the plate on an
emergency situation.

Yeah, anybody can read a check list, but when it comes to the rubber
meeting the road, I just don't see a non pilot doing the simple tasks
inside a cockpit of a 767. It's a visual sensory overload for a
passenger when I had the Sundowner, and I know it would be the same
for me trying to find things in a 767.

MX has no clue about sensory overload, the flat screen monitor twain't
the real world since everything can be seen without turning one's
head. Try that in a 767.