by Tracy R. Walsh
Nick Valery worries that pilots are too dependent on automated systems:
The problem today is that aircrew may log thousands of hours on the flight decks of modern airliners, but their actual hands-on flying experience may amount to mere minutes per flight. When things get frantic – whether through a mistaken input or a sudden runway change by air-traffic control during descent – aircrew can be so preoccupied punching fresh instructions into the flight-management computer that they may fail to notice their airspeed and altitude are falling precipitously. This reduction in situation awareness, along with the degradation of basic piloting skills and a huge increase in cognitive workload on flight crew are all part of the unintended consequences of cockpit automation. Combined, such human factors can quickly lead to disaster.
America’s two recent fatal air crashes – the Asiana Boeing 777 passenger jet on final approach into San Francisco international airport on July 6th and the United Parcel Service Airbus A300 freighter coming into land at Birmingham airport in Alabama on August 14th – are cases in point. Though investigations have barely begun, both situations point to distractions the pilots faced while trying to take control of the aircraft. In both instances, the pilots seem to have been unaware, until the last few minutes, of their proximity to the ground and of how slowly their planes were flying. Both finished up crashing short of the runway.
Recent Dish on autopilot here.
The Dish 