Originally Posted by
excrab
On the subject of the HUD, I can't help thinking that flydubai did the accident crew, and indeed all the crew members who went through the type rating training with them, a great miss service. The SOP, as high lighted in the accident report, was for the HUD to be used for all stages of flight, and as mentioned in the report their are many stages of flight where this is not an advantage. Flying the HUD, for those who haven't done it, is just like being in a giant computer game, and takes away a lot of situational awareness, as you don't have the map display to look at. Also, flydubai got everyone into a mind set of flying all approaches manually from 1000ft, as that was what was required for a cat3a approach. With the weather conditions these pilots experienced at Rostov I9and this is just personal) would have left the automatics engaged for as long as possible, right down to cat1 minimas if I felt it neccessary. There was no reason for the captain to disengage the autopilot and auto-throttle except that it was what he was used to doing. Many of the captains who joined the company from other airlines would ignore the SOP and only use the HUD for cat2 or 3 approaches. Unfortunately flydubais training in bad weather ops was limited, as most line training flights were done on short sectors around the Gulf to make it easier for the line trainers.
Your points regarding the HUD are well made. The GA mode is poorly thought out. Apart from a HUD takeoff there is no other mode that uses the same cues. As a result, it’s the least used.
The ‘bore-sight’ and pitch target aren't intuitive, and the transition to the normal symbology shortly afterward is an unnecessary distraction. Especially given the other factors involved (low altitude, high thrust etc.) The GA mode also has a distractingly large perceptual distance between the bore sight and the dotted line. Which adds to any somatographic illusion.
Regarding an FO and there interaction with a CA flying either a GA, or a low vis takeoff on the HUD - they should understand (or be briefed, as you alluded to) the threat associated with the modes. ie. ‘if you see the CA pitching above 15 degrees ANU, be aware that they may be going down a slippery slope’.