"It was precisely this reaction time and judgment that are to blame in the Colgan accident. I'm sure if you had asked Captain Renslow about the proper response in a stall, he would have been able to recite the steps verbatim."

On the first point, his reaction was to pull on the controls within a second of the stick shaker going off. I think it would be reasonable to argue, however, that fatigue likely played a role in the crew's lack of awareness and not scanning the instruments. The violation of sterile cockpit could've been a way for Renslow to stay awake, or he was just manic from lack of good sleep. But on the second point, I'm not too sure. Remember that he not only pulled on the stick, but increased the throttles (and the FO raised the flaps). Could it be they were confused by the NASA video Colgan showed them that detailed tailplane stall? However, again, you can say that what the NTSB characterized as a reaction of "startle and confusion" could be again a result of fatigue: of being out of it until the dreaded stick shaker came to life. Maybe you can be completely sure that Captain Renslow would be able to demonstrate proper response, but given the skimpy training he got at Colgan and his unfortunate history, I couldn't be so sure.

Unfortunately for the late Captain Renslow, his past not only came back during this investigation, but overshadowed fatigue. Interestingly, there are parallels to other regional carrier crashes, and many of those reports highlight "unprofessional behavior" in the cockpit (a few even cite fatigue as a contributing factor). Perhaps that can be used as a clear sign that a pilot is in dire need of rest.

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