PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - How safe is (airbus) fly by wire? Airbus A330/340 and A320 family emergency AD
Old 20th Dec 2012, 14:10
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Young Paul
 
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With regard to the OP - how safe is (airbus) fly by wire? The answer is - statistically, very safe. What is the hull-loss rate for airbus FBW aircraft, and how does this compare with (say) Boeing non-FBW aircraft? And how many of those hull losses can be classified as a failure either of FBW or of SOP associated with the FBW system?

Now let's imagine we put in a big red button that switches off the FCCs and returns the aeroplane to direct law (say). Please can someone do a risk analysis which compares the current setup with the benefits of switching off all these protection systems and replacing them with a pilot seeking to interpret raw data at short notice in extreme circumstances. And then add to that the risks of people overriding safety systems at times when it's not appropriate, or because they want to get a bit more out of the aeroplane - perhaps like switching off the alpha floor system so that they can do a demonstration high angle of attack flyby at 100 feet ....
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