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On autopilot: 'Pilots are losing their basic flying skills,' some fear after Boeing 737 Max crashes
Automation has made planes safer and more efficient, but the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max jets is leading some to wonder if there is a dangerous flip side. While advanced autopilots and computers are now considered an integral part of any modern jetliner, many pilots worry that the systems are detracting from developing and maintaining their own abilities. (www.usatoday.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Indeed old news, Airbus has been putting in this type of automation for decades and had its own share of calamities. Its not just about whether a pilot can fly, or a machine can fly, its whether a pilot can fly a machine as he understands it, given the circumstances brought upon him. If not, there is a need for training, specific training for the machine he is enlisted to fly.
I was going to say, didn't we have the same discussion after Air France a few years ago? They focused on the systems and forgot to "Fly the D**n Plane!"
When the 'sh*t hits the fan' it is good to remember an old adage of my late father who was a WWII RAF Halifax bomber crew, in Ferry Command flying almost everything, an Empire Test flightcrew at Boscombe Down near Salisbury England after the war, and then until retirement at 60 on Boeing 377 Stratocruisers, Britannias, VC-10s, and finally DC-10s. Firstly AVIATE, then NAVIGATE and finally COMMUNICATE! This wuold be learned by todays' X Box pilots.
Anything that runs on a computer can be hacked. Period. The 737Max proves that poorly written software is as bad as hacked software. You need pilots in the plane, and they need to thoroughly understand the software, including ways to override it. A pilot operates under JAR (Just Ain't Right). A subtle sound can trigger a pilot's response long before a light flashes on. You just can't program anything close to a human brain.
"Welcome aboard Novus Flight 233, the first completely automated flight in history. There are no pilots on board, everything is computer controlled and nothing can go wrong...go wrong...go wrong...go wrong...go wrong........
What nonsense, I fly the 737 often enough on hands up to FL200 or so, and so does everyone in our airline, yet our training captains all went into the sim to try the Ethiopia scenario and none survived with a factored reaction time of just two seconds.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=child+of+the+magenta+line&&view=detail&mid=97CB347C1382F8B5212797CB347C1382F8B52127&&FORM=VDRVRV
Throw in a bunch of new pilots who got their training in simulators vs. the real world and the problem is maybe worse than it ever has been.
Not in any way implying that Boeing is pure as the driven snow in this one (nor Airbus in many other cases), but the state of pilot training in many parts of the world is pitiful...that's the gorilla in the room nobody wants to talk about. It's been dumbed-down like much of everything else these days floating around disguised as education/training. Simulator pilots are the order of the day...faster...cheaper. Safer? Probably fine in the 3-sigma scenario where most everything is working and the checklist covers it. Get outside of the box, and it's a crapshoot...not for me. Basic airmanship is a vanishing(ed) skill that only those who come up through basic aviation training will ever acquire.
I for one am more and more reluctant every day to jump in the back of a flying video game with guys up front who never sweated bullets in real IFR with basic instruments...and Their butt on the line. The only thing between you and the flight control computer code created by the bitbangers in a cube, other than the certification process which is often uncertainand less than adequate, is a professional pilot who can find his own backside when everything goes haywire. Otherwise, you are the next statistic. Understand that I think many airlines across the world do a fine job of training their folks....but there are at least as many that don't.