Originally Posted by
GordonR_Cape
I already answered that question somewhere yesterday (can't find the link).
1.
AFAIK the certification requirements and mission objectives for military and passenger aircraft are rather different.
2. Allowing pilot input to override MCAS would invalidate specific certification requirements.
3. Several recent crashes (both Airbus and Boeing) indicate that pilots can do unexpected things in a loss-of-control situation (night/IMC), and assuming that pilot control inputs are always correct is definitely not a good idea.
4. Military pilots have been trained to deal with AOA, and to interpret AOA disagree. It is clear than many civilian pilots do not use AOA, and have not been trained to deal with AOA disagree.
WRT 2, isn't that precisely the mod that Boeing is putting into the Max? From Boeing's website;
- Flight control system will now compare inputs from both AOA sensors. If the sensors disagree by 5.5 degrees or more with the flaps retracted, MCAS will not activate. An indicator on the flight deck display will alert the pilots.
- If MCAS is activated in non-normal conditions, it will only provide one input for each elevated AOA event. There are no known or envisioned failure conditions where MCAS will provide multiple inputs.
- MCAS can never command more stabilizer input than can be counteracted by the flight crew pulling back on the column. The pilots will continue to always have the ability to override MCAS and manually control the airplane.
WRT 3, There is no perfect middle (and there never will be) between automation and human action. Automation is programmed by humans and subject to errors always. The man-machine interface will continue to become increasingly complex.
WRT 4, How many gauges will be added to provide data to pilots that automation currently takes care of behind the scene before civilian pilot overload? How many automation override capabilities will be provided? As you point out, ex-military are trained but has the workload for the civilian corps just been increased where another mistake might occur?
The below also taken from Boeing's site:
"There are no pilot actions or procedures during flight which require knowledge of angle of attack"