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Old 6th February 2009 | 12:22
  #42 (permalink)  
VOD80
 
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 127
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From: Toulouse
Sacré bleu or even merde alors!

OK, I surrender!

I've the feeling that I've fallen into some parallel universe.

To navigate with only a map and a compass and to have this called "poor airmanship"!

I think everything gets mixed up. The airlines need GPS because they have constraints that can't be satisfied without this. But, it isn't just something from Transair. It's a fully monitored redundant system, integrated into the aircraft and into the airlines' operations. I've not been involved directly in the nav systems (I was doing the warning systems) but I worked in the same department. It was not a trivial subject.

To think that, even two, independent GPS installed with zero integrity monitoring and uncontrolled databases coupled to ad-hoc processes is a sign of good airmanship or that it can, just like that, approach the level of performance achieved in the "professional world" is, to my mind, a questionable proposition!

There's no denying that it can "paper over the cracks" of someone's abilities such that their probability of encountering a sticky situation is reduced. But the corollary is likely to be that the probability of a stickier outcome once the sticky situation is encountered is increased - IMHO!

And, I've just spent a little time reading the "What to do if you're lost" thread as well. It seems like a very passionate subject.
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