From public sources, including this quite-reliable one, it's true. But if the culture didn't work for this individual, but has been successful for literally thousands of others, what do you do? Yes, you continually examine how the culture is working, but when an single employee just doesn't get it, and has had multiple opportunities to listen, learn and 'fly right,' you don't throw out the culture, you terminate the single individual before they do more damage to the company and its customers. Gross stupidity can kill people!
I'm afraid you missed my point. I certainly don't want a return to the cockpit era when a grizzled CA tells an alert young FO: "Ain't no stinkin' mountain in front of us! Shut up, Kid, and wait to flip the gear lever when I tell you to." I think a safety culture is a fine thing, and has contributed thousands of times each day to better flying. But I believe the reality is that some few failures are severe enough that they must have consequences of a serious nature. It is perhaps not the best part of the motivational matrix, but it is ONE TOOL that belongs in the managerial tool box. It's the tool of last resort.
As a manager, I've always felt that a termination is, at least in some part, my managerial failure. I may have cautioned the employee to not speed or drive recklessly, but I didn't, and shouldn't have to tell him/her not to pass a loaded school bus on a curve going 100 mph. That's the employee's failure, not mine. Or of the safety culture.
So, all praise and cheers for people using their company's flavor of safety culture to make the world a better place. But if a failure is bad enough, don't expect a pat on the back for doing something with tragic consequences, for which YOU are responsible. Fortunately, it's a v-e-r-y small percentage.
Yeah, you get a second chance, but there is A LOT riding on that retraining. The re-training is the consequence. Actually investigating an incident, re-training, and possibly adjusting policies and/or procedures is better, always.