That letter in full:
Sir - Not since I perused the works of W S Gilbert have I read such an amazing piece of topsey-turveydome as the letter from David Parkinson (letters, June 7).
Having spent most of my adult life flying airliners all over the world, I know of no more reassuring embodiment of safety than the calm measured tones of British air traffic controllers, particularly when returning from the regular nightmare of near-misses that is America.
Having had the privilege of joining those controllers in their training sessions, I know my faith in their professionalism and flexibility is well placed.
Aircraft over the Atlantic are separated by 12 times the distance used over Europe, and many major fleets of relatively modern aircraft still do not have the equipment fitted to take part in that automatic system.
The failure of a fly-by-wire aircraft would only result in the loss of that aircraft, but the failure of air traffic control could result in multiple crashes over a wide area.
Aircraft manufacturers have gradually learnt that increasing automation is not the best policy. People make poor monitors of computers, but the flexibility of the human brain monitored by computers, immune to boredom, generates maximum safety.
I hope that air traffic control consultants will have the humility to learn from the relevant experience of others. Trains can be automatically controlled because they always have the intrinsically safe option of stopping. Until sky hooks are invented, aircraft and controllers do not have that option.
People with headsets, both in front of the screen and aboard the aircraft, represent the safest and most versatile combination available at present.
From:
David Finnemore, Poole, Dorset
The letter he was responding to was this:
Abandon this out of date concept
Sir - The appalling effect of a minor air-traffic control computer failure (report, June 4) highlights not so much a lack of investment in the system as a reluctance on the part of the national authorities throughout Europe to abandon an operational concept that is completely out of date.
The use of paper strips and the control of aircraft by voice, based on a radar screen and human judgment, are inefficient and anachronistic.
Senior researchers within the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) are fully aware of this and know that complete automation of the air-traffic control system is urgently required.
All of the necessary components have now been proved in operational trials and, since 1992, Eurocontrol has had a mandate from European transport ministers to lead in this area.
Air traffic over the North Atlantic has been controlled using an automated system at Prestwick since 1987. The controllers have no radar display and no direct voice contact with the aircraft.
This system successfully handled the massive wave of traffic that was turned back over the ocean on September 11, 2001. In Britain, the main rail arteries are fully automatically switched and signalled, with the signalmen acting as traffic managers.
A comparable automated system could be deployed across Europe for a fraction of the cost of current centres such as Swanwick, with a significant reduction in delays due to airspace restrictions. More efficient routings would save time and fuel, and the more effective use of computers would increase safety.
Passengers have shown their confidence in automation by boarding two-crew, twin-engined, fly-by-wire aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 777 without hesitation. Britain\'s National Air Traffic Services and other air traffic service providers must now demonstrate that they are willing to adopt new technology and move forward for the benefit of everyone.
The person with a pen and a headset in front of a screen should be consigned to history, as was the navigator on the flight deck.
From:
David Parkinson, Air Traffic Control Systems Consultant, Guildford, Surrey