PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Airbus prepares safety warnings following A321 incident
Old 15th Nov 2010, 12:59
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BOAC
Per Ardua ad Astraeus
 
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It really is time to analyse what it is that is causing this problem.

Point 1: The AB 319 onwards are clever and sophisticated aircraft. The technology is extremely advanced. I view it as a significant step along the aviation path. It generally makes life (and eating crew meals) a lot easier. Personally I dislike the side-stick concept from a monitoring p.o.v. but otherwise the a/c has a lot of plusses.

Point 2: The 'POS' that PTH talks about is not primarily the aircraft nor the technology. It sits at the desks of all those managers, accountants and airline training departments who have swallowed the AB hype - starting with Bernard's.

Point 3: If all is working well, the a/c will NOT readily let you kill yourself or your passengers.

Point 4: If all is NOT working well, it will. It has the ability to remove its defences and either not let the pilots know or confuse them with its functions.

To summarise: If all the above 'POS's' would realise this, that there are obvious faults in the software as with ANY aircraft that uses computers, the world will be a safer place. Teach pilots NOT to trust implicitly. Teach them to be wary of the machine. Teach them to retain basic airmanship and flying skills. In other words, to watch out for themselves. Had the PGF crew done this, even given the altitude was hopelessly wrong, they would most probably have survived and snagged the AoA sensors on landing. As with the latest electrical shenanigans, crews need to be aware of all the wrinkles and what to do when ECAM fails. It is not what it is hyped to be. Acceptance of this by some would go a long long way to sorting out a lot of the problems. Remember the infallible 'system' did not protect the AB CTP out of TLS. I think that is a significant lesson for all.

Time to end this boring battle here and accept that FBW is here to stay and will get more capable. Let's make sure we all keep up with it.
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