VATSIM Pilot ratings

[Scott DeWoody]

Where I understand the logic behind this, for the most part, they mean absolutely nothing.  Today I was flying into KMIA, there were two planes lining up for rw12, the lead aircraft was announcing on unicomm (no pilot rating) as he should, and the trail aircraft (instrument rating) was flying faster, and flew right through the lead aircraft right as they were about to land.  I MHO, the trail aircraft should have gone around and made a second attempt.  I've been flying on VATSIM since 2007, have over 14k hours, but no pilot rating, but I know better than that, and that situation would not have happened had ATC been online.  So what good did it do to give that pilot an Instrument rating when he doesn't appear to know how to not fly into other aircraft.   My .02

[Alistair Thomson]

I feel your pain, but our pain should not be directed at the ratings but at the pilot. There are RW pilots fully ATPL trained and experienced who are also [pick-a-word] and that is not the fault of the rating system.

[Trevor Hannant]

TBH, there's a lot of people who simply like to collect ratings as badges then not pay a blind bit of notice to what they've learnt thereafter.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Perhaps we should make them all join Virtual Airlines -- those guys would never mess up basic VATSIM etiquette.

[Dace Nicmane]

Isn't this an exception rather than the norm that a pilot with a rating does what they shouldn't be doing? 

[Simon Kelsey]

As others have said above, the fact that somebody holds a rating (or RW licence) etc does not legislate for what they do afterwards or their level of consideration etc.

If you look at the real world there are plenty of licenced pilots who have behaved in ridiculous ways with aeroplanes... or at a lower level, plenty of people on the roads with driving licences who nonetheless drive in a less than considerate way.

12 hours ago, Scott DeWoody said:

what good did it do to give that pilot an Instrument rating when he doesn't appear to know how to not fly into other aircraft.

Well, the pilot in question would have had to demonstrate to an examiner that they were able to meet the knowledge and flying skill requirements for the issue of the rating at the time at which they did their exam, and I'm sure if they had flown in to another aircraft in the exam they would not have been awarded the rating.