> Dying in plane crashes and having their license revoked are pretty severe punishments

Neither are punishments. If you stab yourself that's your own doing, not punishment. Removing someone from a position where they cannot be trusted is not a punishment.

Airbus has had problems with their automation systems, too, that the pilots were able to save. And crashes where the pilots forgot how to recover from a stall.

Nobody is saying safety cannot still be improved. Every accident gets thoroughly investigated, and all contributing causes to the accident get dealt with.

Whipping people is not going to improve matters.