Kelly,
Getting back to the original post, did two pilots sit by and watch as a serviceable aircraft flew itself into the ground or was there a problem with the manual controls or the automation? Did the Captain allow his plane to crash because his offsider couldn't manage to get the autopilot to engage because that is not blind reliance on automation, that is criminal incompetence.
You'll go far with an attitude like that.
Fathom,
track shortening can get ugly
Rubbish! That's what it's all about!
If you're easily coping with track shortening, then you're wasting fuel.
