Originally Posted by
aguadalte
I think the problem here is that, regarding Flight Controls Laws, it is the aircraft logics that "decides" when the bird is sick. It then downgrades the Law to a certain level.
Speaking not as a pilot but as a computer boffin, I think that statement is fatally flawed. No computer yet in use aloft has an "adaptive" or "evolutionary" capability. All the computers used aloft run according to very strict rules - those in the program laid down by the software writers.
There are usually only 2 reasons why computers and automation go haywire:
- The program has become corrupted
- The program didn't cater for a particular situation.
We must remember that, whatever the make or model, the computers are only doing (or not doing) what they have been told to do. Of course I am simplifying like crazy and there is a whole army devoted to writing specifications and then ensuring that the finished product adheres to that specification, but the bottom line is usually "if the automation misbehaves don't blame the automation, blame the software designer/writer"
As for wanting a big red button to kill the automation and revert to hand flying, there is not and can never be such a thing. You could have a button that would cut out
some of the automation, but to cut it all out is impossible - the physical links between the pilot and the things he needs to control are no longer there, having been replaced by electrical signals.