HANDLING SKILLS? - AUTOMATION CULTURE & FLIGHT MANAGEMENT DEPT!
In my opinion a strong automation culture has developped over time which requires considerable efforts to be reversed if so desired. Flight management departments of the majority of airlines nowadays seem to rely more & more on the reliability statistics of automated systems.
Also the culture exists that because of Flight Data Monitoring systems and flight management culture, pilots are afraid or have no desire whatsoever having to explain themselves in case flight paramenters weren't as accurate as they should have been. The slightest increase of probability having to report or explain themselves in the office is a main reason to keep the autopilot engaged to nearly the flare to landing! Possible repurcussions to pilots is also a main ingredient for pilots to do as little handflying as possible! There again because of the automation has been pushed down our throats over the last decade that senior management pilots no longer recognize the benefits and contribution to flight safety associated with having a high level of handflying skills. Pilots nowadays have been robbed from their skills and young cadets have never aquired good manual flying skills. Modern initial cadet flight training programs no longer emphasizes on manual flying but rather the development and correct application of SOP's. To me is that's what you do when you progam the hardware. We are humans and not computers! The result is that cadets have never been given the opportunity to even develop their skills in the first place. The end result is very little or no confidence in themselves or their collegues when it comes to handflying. Confidence in automated systems is at an all time high among pilots. To reverse this culture the airlines have to be prepared to make the investment to re-train pilots in handflying. This will mean multiple sim sessions and line training sectors. This cost a lot of money!! In the current climate I don't see or very very few or none are prepared to make that investment. Relying on reliability statistics of automated systems is a lot cheaper!!
To sum it all up:
- PILOT CULTURE!!!!! AND SOP's!!! needs to change!!!!
- Main pilot objective: Protect his/her, career progression, lifestyle and salary and to stay out of the office at all times!!!
For the ones who do not recognize the benefits of having strong manual flying skills please read on:
To begin when having a high level of manual flying skills the pilot knows his aircraft better, knows what the aircraft can do which directly translates into a better anticipation ability overall. He/she can recognize threats to flight safety much further ahead of time and take action before things get even close to getting out of control. Being able to sense and feel the aircraft with more human sensors than just the eyes on the instrument panel. This is also what decreases workload!! Not having your eyes racing over instrument panels all the time. Not to forget that when flying manual on a daily basis you will become accustomed to handflying to such a point that it becomes a routine operation and is no longer an additional workload on the pilot. This way you built up additional spare capacity which will become especially usefull when then the autopilot is used. The continuous aim to workload reduction disconnects the pilot from the aircraft with a further loss of individual skills. Humans need practice and continous involvement to maintain their efectiveness! How can they prevent accidents/ act as a last line of defense if they have been deprived of their skills and tools to even recognize threats! When having strong manual flying skills also allows you to further develop your multi-tasking abilities which is a basic requirement for the FAA commercial pilot certificate. (Just read the FAA PTS/Flying Training Handbook) The ability of being able to multi task, recognize threats further ahead directly increases your situational awareness without additional efforts.
DO I NEED TO SAY ANY MORE!!! AMEN!!!
Last edited by FL XXX; 16th Dec 2009 at 08:38.