lying an instrument approach procedure shouldn’t be all that challenging. After all, it’s basically a managed descent to a specified altitude, along a predetermined heading, to a point at which one either lands the airplane or initiates a climb for the missed approach. Yet, pilots of every stripe botch approaches with great regularity.

In reality, it’s all a bit more complicated than that, of course, but still should be manageable, especially for a two-pilot crew: One guy flies while the other monitors the first guy. Simple, right? Done it hundreds of times. Yet, two-pilot crews—and a few trios—find ways to place themselves and their passengers in the weeds from time to…