Originally Posted by
BOAC
So complex that in the case of 447, if a question on the operation of the FBW system is asked 2 years after a ? 6 minute ? disaster window, we still get conflicting answers from 'experts'.
I'm not so sure of that - what you're getting is a combination of people with varying amounts of knowledge. In my case a reasonable idea of the design philosophy and some knowledge (by no means complete) of the logic trees and reliability/testing phases involved, current and former Airbus FBW pilots in the form of PJ2 and Chris Scott among others, those who are pilots that don't necessarily know the systems but have their opinions anyway - and finally those who we know well have a major axe to grind with Airbus and are deliberately muddying the waters like they always do when the subject comes up.
In terms of the current Airbus pilots in particular, you have speculation based on knowledge which is sound but may not be current - notably none of them has suggested that the pilots in the case you're referring to were confused by laws, displays or ergonomics. One current pilot is fascinated with the possibility of Byzantine software failure (which I'm not discounting out of hand but suspect is unlikely). If you read the threads however, the ones claiming confusion on the flight deck and slating the systems design are all from the latter two camps.
Just thought I'd better clear that up - on with the discussion!