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Cockpit crisis: In five years, over 50 commercial airplanes crashed in loss-of-control accidents. What’s going on?
(take the time and read this EXCELLENT article). With low clouds and a fine mist hanging in the morning air, the pilots of Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 anticipated a routine approach to Amsterdam’s busy Schiphol Airport on Feb. 25, 2009. But instead of touching down gently on the runway, the white and red Boeing 737 dropped out of the sky and slammed into a muddy field just short of the airport, smashing into three pieces. Nine people died, including all three pilots. Another 84 were injured. (www2.macleans.ca) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
You can quote all kinds of technical issues and causes, but what this article is saying is what we're taught during primary training is being lost on high hour pilots - maintain situational awareness at all times! Fail safes and automation can only work right when the human behind it knows what it's doing and knows how to correct it if need be.
Sounds like an armchair wana be pilot tried to write something they knew little about to me another head line that means very little in the way of substance.
Obviously the "unlike" was meant to be "like". As a flight instructor and check pilot for over 35 years this is the best article I've read on this matter.
When I flew 17's out of England,we never had these problems,particlarly when our panel had been riddled with flak.Those were the good old days.25 hrs and no experience.But some of us made it.
Everywhere you look, our society has dumbed things down to the point that very few people are as qualified as their predecessors were. This is especially true in the technical fields, of which aviation is a part. I would seriously doubt whether today's average pilot understands their aircraft, or basic aeronautics, as well as pilots did just 20 or 30 years ago. (They may still be smarter than the average person, but that's not much of a compliment.) There's not as much need to, since the aircraft's computer-based systems are responsible for monitoring themselves without pilot intervention.
I have spoken at length to a couple of pilots -- one a former classmate of mine -- about their airline training programs. They both told me how frustrated they were with the system at their respective airlines. Time and again, when they asked a question, the instructor told them (1) I don't know, (2) there's no time to get into that, or (3) you don't need to know the answer because the airplane will know. (As a teacher, I especially like that last one.) Both pilots also learned that you do not want to make your instructor/examination/chief pilot look bad, so they pretty much stopped asking questions or going beyond the curriculum requirements.
Faced with a workforce of declining abilities, the airlines should be spending MORE on training. But every penny must be pinched, so that's not possible. Instead, airlines demand aircraft that use computers to replace the pilots' missing knowledge and problem-solving abilities. As bad as it may be with US airlines, I have a feeling this is especially true with so many small airlines that are popping up everywhere, using old aircraft that the "big boys" have left out in the desert. Those older aircraft bring their own set of problems of course, and the maintenance people are less qualified to deal with them than their predecessors.
Luckily, most pilots will successfully complete a routine career with minimum damage to their body and/or ego, having never experienced a moment where they must face their lack of knowledge and understanding. But it will happen to an unfortunate few. When it does (and that may be what we're beginning to see in these 50+ incidents), those poor men and women just won't have the wherewithal to take the actions necessary to save the day. They may take the official blame with a "pilot error" conclusion, but for many of them it won't be their fault.
I have spoken at length to a couple of pilots -- one a former classmate of mine -- about their airline training programs. They both told me how frustrated they were with the system at their respective airlines. Time and again, when they asked a question, the instructor told them (1) I don't know, (2) there's no time to get into that, or (3) you don't need to know the answer because the airplane will know. (As a teacher, I especially like that last one.) Both pilots also learned that you do not want to make your instructor/examination/chief pilot look bad, so they pretty much stopped asking questions or going beyond the curriculum requirements.
Faced with a workforce of declining abilities, the airlines should be spending MORE on training. But every penny must be pinched, so that's not possible. Instead, airlines demand aircraft that use computers to replace the pilots' missing knowledge and problem-solving abilities. As bad as it may be with US airlines, I have a feeling this is especially true with so many small airlines that are popping up everywhere, using old aircraft that the "big boys" have left out in the desert. Those older aircraft bring their own set of problems of course, and the maintenance people are less qualified to deal with them than their predecessors.
Luckily, most pilots will successfully complete a routine career with minimum damage to their body and/or ego, having never experienced a moment where they must face their lack of knowledge and understanding. But it will happen to an unfortunate few. When it does (and that may be what we're beginning to see in these 50+ incidents), those poor men and women just won't have the wherewithal to take the actions necessary to save the day. They may take the official blame with a "pilot error" conclusion, but for many of them it won't be their fault.
From experience, airline training has gone to hell....years ago, training also sucked, but was very system intensive......We complained that we were not mechanics...LOL
Today's airline training has devolved into watch some CBT, click, watch.....sim time was, do this, do that, no instruction......complete the tasks, then you pass......granted, this was a low fare airline, actually three airlines........one other airline was, here, learn the cockpit, learn the checklists, you will learn the rest on the line......
No wonder we have accidents....
Today's airline training has devolved into watch some CBT, click, watch.....sim time was, do this, do that, no instruction......complete the tasks, then you pass......granted, this was a low fare airline, actually three airlines........one other airline was, here, learn the cockpit, learn the checklists, you will learn the rest on the line......
No wonder we have accidents....