PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Computers in the cockpit and the safety of aviation
Old 24th Jan 2011, 02:01
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MountainBear
 
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That is often what a good hazard&risk analysis of data corruption would suggest is the best information to provide to the eyes in the front seat
Aye, and there's the rub.

Where in the traditional pantheon of aviate, navigate, communicate does risk analysis fit in. I remember a comment I once read from the captain of the UA Flight 232 when asked by a reporter how he knew what to do after he lost control of all his flight surfaces. His response, "We'll we just tried the first thing that came into our heads and thankfully it worked," [That's a paraphrase but it gets the gist].

Risk in inherent in complex systems. And where there is risk, if a man is honest, there is luck. Good luck. Bad luck. I'm not sure that the wise course of action is to toss the burden of risk analysis of complex data systems in the pilots lap. Might he be better of taking a mid-point in a range of values. He might. Might a pilot be better off believing instrument x over instrument y. He might.

Or maybe he might just be better of flying the plane and saying a prayer.

Last edited by MountainBear; 24th Jan 2011 at 02:53.
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