But it is common knowledge that one of the central planks of Airbus philosophy has always been to build an aircraft that fills the niche in markets where training opportunities might be less than average or ideal. (This excludes SAA where the cockpit crew training at least has always been of the highest calibre.) It is for this reason that Airbus machines, unlike Boeings, are designed to be operated rather than flown and all Airbus system logic law derives from the autopilot and consequent artificial feel factors. Is any Airbus designed to be flown by man in such hostile conditions. If the crew were flying the machine then a good job must have been done. In the more unlikely event that the autoland was in operation then it seems remotely possible that Airbus has lived up to its original design standards.