tmariner wrote:
> instruments. Why can't the instruments pay attention to the instruments?

  They already can and do until you tell them not to.  That
plane had an autopilot capable of landing the plane.  There
was either mechanical failure, or more likely he turned it
off because what it was doing didn't seem 'right'..  At 100
total hours (most people take 50 just to get a license) he
had no business with passengers at night in a complex
aircraft (flaps, retractable gear, variable pitch prop) with
so little experience.  At least to give him some credit, he
had planned to leave 1 hour earlier and his wife's sister
was late.  All boils down to confidence != experience
though.  Not like it matters now.

Alan