Originally Posted by
BOAC
Regarding the 'quote' - I think most of us, when we take that 'view', mean the way it has been trained for and implemented by operators rather than the 'luddite' postion to which I think you refer. I, for one, do see a definite 'decline in piloting skills'.
Thanks very much BOAC, and I'm honoured. But if what you say above is really the case, why is this ire not more clearly directed? I know it's only a minority that jump on every Airbus incident or accident with tales of conspiracies and concierges - but at the end of the day if the airlines are abusing the tools that the engineers are giving them in order to cut costs then it is the airlines who deserve to be in the firing line - not the engineers!
There is so much that could be done with the co-operation of all parties to make it crystal clear to the industry that while the technological advances can improve safety and can keep costs down - this should not come at the expense of knowing how to deal with things on the rare occasions that things go pear-shaped, but so often on here I see such discussions break down into lamenting the fact that things aren't like they were in the '70s. Lord knows I wish we could undo a lot of what happened in the '80s but we have to work with what we've got.