PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Is this a dying breed of Airman / Pilot for airlines?
Old 17th Feb 2011, 17:11
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theficklefinger
 
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Guppy - No one discounts the benefits of the gear afforded to crews these days...the question remains, have the pilots learned to rely on the gear so entirel,y that should the cockpit go dark the plane is lost? I submit this: Having trained pilots - I have seen them overloaded with so much gear to work, that turning off extraneous instruments has allowed them to successfully complete an approach. I have also witnessed pilots, that can't fly a simple ILS, and hold two needles together, without the situational awareness provided by a moving map. In both cases, as I sat there, there was no doubt in my mind, that both pilots of commercial caliber, would have, had I not been there, kill all passengers on board, and wreck the aircraft. Fortunately, these deficiencies were found in the training environment. Anyone who feels that a pilot can be reduced to checklist reader and button pusher, is not operating in the real world of flying, and is putting people's lives at risk.
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