QUOTE
The latest generation of FBW aircraft are entirely dependent on computers to keep them in the air - not the pilots. If all of the computer systems fail, there's not a chance that the aircraft can be brought down safely because - regardless of what the manufacturers claim - you can't fly an aircraft without any control surfaces or power (don't forget that the engines are FADEC controlled). A number of the military aircraft around today - such as the F117A - are inherently areodynamically unstable and again it's thanks to the computers that the aircraft gets from A to B.
UNQUOTE
That piece is not factually correct. On the A340, you could lose all 5 Flight Control computers...Prim 1,2,3 and Sec 1,2...and still put the a/c down gently onto a runway. Airbus calls it "flight with Mechanical Backup" i.e. with manual trim and rudder only. It's quite easy, really...on a clear cloudless day. On worse days, it can be a handful, but i would have earned my salary for life if i landed the 'bus in a howling 28kt crosswind and 350m RVR, with that config. As for DL, i have a padded room ready for him....