Notso Fantastic:- Thank you for your suggestion, Questions does indeed seem to be the place this thread ended up. However even here there have not been any answers to my "Question"
Mike-Hunt:- Well, the header on my post was a STATEMENT. The only line that was a question was "When you can't land "visual" what do you do?... Use instruments, you trust them?" Immature and uninteresting? To you maybe, but currently a very active discussion is going on about TCAS (a machine) and the consequences of not obaying its instructions.
Dale Harris:- "Windows XP" Now WHY would ANYONE use a general purpose operating system to do a very specific job like flying a plane? I think you will find that software used for that type of application is very limited in its function and not anything like "Windows" ALSO "triple, quadruple, quintuple redundancy" now I am SURE that if you used five laptops to fill in your expenses claim than you would stand a good chance of one of them not screwing up.
Carruthers:- My statement was "Automation, "computers", You have to go one way or the other guys." Meaning either go FULLY automatic or reduce the dependence on the existing (and often uncoordinated) computer control systems. This half way stage is a very dangerous place to be. As you said you already have to trust electronics to some extent.
BigBrutha:- Where did I "snipe" at you??????? However you do make valid points. you get the Windows bluescreen because windows is an operating system designed to do everything from fill in your taxes to playing solitaire. Also I bet you run programs written by third parties that have not been tested alongside OTHER programs. I think you will find that in process control systems the software is vastly different to your general usage PC stuff. I know for a FACT that the control unit on a pegasus (harrier) engine does not have a mouse, keyboard or screen and it DEFINATLY does not run Windows.
WhatsaLizad:- I don't understand your point, I assume you are talking about expendable drones. Pilotless because they fly over enemy territory for up to 24hrs at a time and what good would 180lbs of lard sitting in the front reading a newspaper be anyway?
So, getting back to the "question" how do you land the thing when you can't see where you are going?
As to supporting examples I assume you can all find instances where the "machine" reported one thing and the pilots either ignored it or mis-interpreted it. Ones that spring to mind are SQ006 (wasn't lined up on a runway), Air Transat leaking fuel and the tragic mid air over Germany. Very simplistically put these were instances where the systems reported to the pilots so the pilots could interpret the data and take action. The systems were not able/equipped/designed to take corrective action themselves.