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I am compiling an essay about pilots making wrong assumptions about controls and layouts and behaviors of aircrafts.

The cases I am looking for should demonstrate that highly experienced pilots in one (sub)model of a specific aircraft assumes that another (sub) model or similar aircraft would be pretty much the same and/or their training/muscle memory/experience kicks in - and they activate the wrong thing leading to a disaster.

One example that i could find is : Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash

One of the speculative reasons is/would be that the brake pedals of the Yak42 was not designed for the pilot's heels to rest - in contrast to a very similar Yak40. That lead to insufficient takeoff acceleration, runway overrun and disaster.

Another one that could fit the bill is the Überlingen disaster, where their experience led to the decision of listening to the controller and not the TCAS - which made the worst disaster over post war Germany - but I would like to focus on cases, where the experience was detrimental with respect to the aircraft itself.

Are there other similar cases, where the pilots experience (but not "tailored" experience) led to immense fatalities?

Thank you.

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    $\begingroup$ Might look into F-104 crashes... some had upward firing ejection seats, others had downward firing. The latter had to roll inverted if ejecting at low altitude, which would be a really awful thing to do in the former. $\endgroup$
    – Ralph J ♦
    Commented Jun 19 at 20:55
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    $\begingroup$ As you rightly said, I don't think Überlingen fits the bill. The cause was incompatible expectations between the two crews, caused by missing international standardization and guidance. If anything, the cause was cultural, with the "Western" pilots being used to trust the machine and the Russian ones being indoctrinated to blindly obey authority always, no questions asked. And, of course, the whole tragic mess at the ATC site. $\endgroup$
    – Jörg W Mittag
    Commented Jun 19 at 21:47
  • $\begingroup$ Hasn't lead to disaster as far as I know but the EXPED button on the A320 MCP was replaced by the ALT button on the A330/A340/A380, which led to confusion for cross-fleet flying, some airlines banned its use, and eventually EXPED was deleted. $\endgroup$
    – user71659
    Commented Jun 20 at 1:46

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Aeroflot Flight 821

The attitude indicators used on most Russian aircraft have a different functional configuration from those used on Western (e.g., Boeing, Airbus) aircraft. This was a major cause in this accident as the pilots previously flew Tupolev and Antonov aircraft and the accident was in a Boeing 737. While this was not the sole cause of the accident, it contributed to loss of spatial orientation which was a major cause of the accident.

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Have a look at the Kegworth Air Disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kegworth_air_disaster where the pilot shut down the wrong engine because of differences between the 737-300 and 737-400.

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