Byron Dorgan actually said...

Pilot error. That would suggest that something happened in a moment in that cockpit that caused that accident.

It seems, to me at least, that the safety of the passengers, both for regional carriers and large carriers, should be the overriding factor,...

the major carrier, in most cases, does not have responsibility for, or liability for, the regional carrier.

For all scheduled passenger carriage, yes, that's correct.