Circuit breakers are intentionally placed in the overhead and back wall of the cockpit, while the devices they control are all over the airplane. They put CBs in reach of the pilots, and say, "Don't touch?"
It would save a lot of wiring and cockpit real estate if the the CBs were near the devices, or near the power source. The radio altimeter transceivers in the MD-11, for example, are in the Center Accessory Compartment, right near the Remote Control Circuit Breakers (power source), yet their power is routed to a clearly labeled "Radio Altimeter (1,2)" CB on the fright deck, and back to the CAC.
I rank fear of CBs up there with fear of hand flying that is revealed in the THY thread.
The radalt was almost certainly locked on -8 feet well before THY started the approach, but only became evident on the voice recorder with first selection of approach flaps.
It's better to have a sensor reporting "Fail" than reporting itself healthy, with erroneous output.
GB
Last edited by Graybeard; 22nd Mar 2009 at 16:14.
Reason: Typo