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Old 18th Aug 2014, 02:26
  #1080 (permalink)  
FGD135
 
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What was wrong with ...
I'm with safetypee. I'm not sure what was wrong with the approach procedure, but wrong with "design" and "system approval" were:

1. The presentation of airspeed in the tape format, making it much more difficult for pilots to monitor airspeed (and become aware of incorrect airspeed);

2. The abysmal man/machine interface. There is nothing wrong with airliners being highly automated, the issue is how well the automation can be operated/managed. In this case, and with all other modern airliners, the pilots are just not trained anywhere near well enough - because it is just not possible to train a human to that degree. A robot, yes, but a human - no.

The sheer number of modes makes the modern cockpit too complex for the average human. The aircraft can remain just as automated, or even more so, but how the aircraft is operated must be changed.

How about just 5 or so modes, with one manual mode, where everything is manual? The aircraft would then either be fully automatic, or fully manual - no mixtures of modes with varying levels of automation. The auto modes would be "takeoff", "climb", "cruise", "hold", "land", etc.


... and the industry's continued belief that these can be mitigated by the human with more 'training'.
Indeed. There are limits to what can be achieved via training. At some point, other factors need to be addressed.

Last edited by FGD135; 18th Aug 2014 at 02:55.
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