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The trouble with autopilot: With the advance of technology, there is now too much auto and not enough pilot
We now know that Air Asia flight QZ8501 crashed. And while we cannot be absolutely certain why it did so, the recent history of aviation disasters, which I have studied as a safety analyst for the last three decades, gives us a very good idea.... (news.nationalpost.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
The pilot must keep in mind that he/she is always in the game waiting for the autopilot to kick off and tell the pilot "tag, you're it". There appears to be some concern that some pilots may be forgetting that in their reliance on 'Otto'.
You are exactly right.... However, many are not... Take the example of the NWA crew that were on their laptops working out their flight schedule, did not hear ATC calling them and then only realized after the FA knocked on the door to see how much longer the flight was going to be... If that A/P had kicked off, I doubt that they would have noticed....
U said it, my friend joel wiley
Just a WAG, and I hope I'm wrong. But to see the future for air travel just look at military drone technology and the speed at which it has prevailed. Or.....are we already close to being there? No point in having a pilot if he's either too timid or incompetent to subjugate "George"!
While not all of us fly "big iron", all of us drive cars. In ten years some forum will be having this same discussion about autos. All cars have cruise control, but I bet most of us don't use it. But in a few years, the roadways will be populated by inexperienced drivers rolling down the road texting away while the collision avoidance, lane incursion and whatever computer aided technology on the car makes them feel safe. You have seen the future. At least in a car, you might get lucky and run into a ditch. We need pilots who like to fly the same way I like to drive.
And now we are covering billions of miles lasting months .
All a matter of " auto " , remotely controlled and suitably augmented by human interface where ever possible or necessary .
The ' auto ' will keep proliferating and there will always be ' pilot ' present every where and all the time , in some form or the other.
And this will not be unusual .
So , no problem with 'too much of auto' because there will always be 'enough pilot' .
IMHO