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You can't just look at the crashes without giving offsetting credit for crashes avoided by human intervention. (USAir 1549 or United 232 as possible examples.)

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True, those are good counter examples, thanks for sharing.

Here’s a reference from the BBC (sourcing a Boeing report from 2003) that states that approximately 80% of commercial aviation accidents were caused by pilot error (when the study was performed in 2003).

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20130521-how-human-error-can...

Just because they are Pilot error doesn't necessarily mean that the machine would have done better.

Very true

Blaming the dead pilots is easy as my Uncle (ex Merchant Marine) said about the Concordia sinking - they always crucify the captain.

You mean that guy who brought the ship dangerously close to an island (300m vs the planned 8km), because he watned to impress his girlfriend and then "accidentaly" fell into a lifeboat and left the sinking ship?

Not the best example IMHO.

True My Uncle had met him when the concordias captain went to Warsash (one of the Uk's training colleges) and wasn't impressed.

I think his point was they always crucify the captain even if its not their direct fault

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