Originally Posted by
silverstrata
Wrong on all counts.
a. The 737 is not a computer controlled aircraft by any stretch of the imagination. It is the original fly-by-wire aircraft (yup - 5mm steel cables).
b. The Indonesian, Ethiopian(?), A320, A340, and many other incidents demonstrate that the pilots were NOT able to be the last line of defence. Quite the reverse.
c. AF447 could easily have been saved by computer software. If Normal-law drops out because of input errors, the aircraft defaults to Alternate-law, which is a basic control system running on attitude and power. It would take Airbus a couple of years to knock up this new Alternate-law, which assumed no pilot assistance.
d. The Sioux DC10 crash was easily flown with a computer (just on engines, with no controls). They knocked up that new software inside a year.
Silver
And how many times did the pilots save the airplane from the automation?