Flight International 30 January -5 February 2018. Letter to Editor headed:
Manual flying still a necessity by Tristram Llewellyn Jones
"Two of your recent articles high-light the issue of manual flying ability versus the usage of automatic systems.
First: "Hard landing followed manual approach" (Flight International 16-22 January) explains that Germania placed operational restrictions on manual flying following an incident with a hand-flown approach.
Next: "EasyJet A319 sustained gear damage during flat landing" (F.I. 23-29 January) describes a handling incident following a flight management computer failure, and an incorrect control input that could have been caused by either computer or human error.
There is an obvious point: the primary duty of the pilot is to control the aircraft, and the most critical stage of a flight is the last part of the approach and landing.
Flight International has rightly raised concerns about the degradation of manual flying skills due to over-reliance on automation. Regulators and airlines appear to have developed low expectations of pilots' flying skills, yet autopilots are not yet at the stage where every flight manoeuvre can be flown automatically. Baulked landings, take-offs, stall recoveries, collision avoidance and jet upsets require current flying skills.
It is possible to over-complicate this issue. Pilots must be able to confidently fly the aircraft accurately at any stage of flight. This means increasing the amount of operational hand flying, not decreasing it.
For the sake of public safety manual flying needs to come back into fashion, even if it is slightly less fuel-efficient.
The old adage is true - if you think safety is expensive, try having an accident".
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Comment. While it is true that regulators and airlines appear to have low expectations of pilots' flying skills, it is naïve to expect regulators to fix the problem through legislation. And indeed that is the only way of fixing the problem.
Individual Examiners have their own opinions on the manual flying versus automatics; just as all of us have, depending on our background. By now, old school Examiners in the regulatory system have long since retired; to be replaced by those whose first airline job was probably on EFIS aircraft. Understandably their accent is on the bells and whistles of ever more sophisticated automatic systems. It is my understanding these people do not have the regulatory power to force an operator to make a significant increase in manual flight training. The regulator's Examiner can make recommendations and little else.
Am I right in saying only the operator can decide to change a syllabus of training to accent manual instrument flying skills both in the simulator and flying on the line? As the flight operations decision makers in an organisation move on and fresh blood comes in, one can only hope the new chief pilot has read enough accident reports to appreciate that manual flying skills are equally as important to maintaining a good flight safety record, as autopilot skills .
I for one, am not holding my breath on that one.
Last edited by Centaurus; 12th Feb 2018 at 12:23.