I'm with vilas on this. FBW is an assistance tool, like the FADECs in the engines, and help prevent exceedences. (?spelling)
Problems with Airbus FBW are mostly down to pilot training, which companies are trying to reduce because it costs money - which reduces the profit they make because they refuse to charge the proper price for the tickets. That's not the pilot's fault.
(If I was an Airbus designer I would keep the system as it is but physically link the joysticks, so they both moved together, and have a disconnect function just like on the Dash 8, where the controls can be disconnected from each other in case of control problems).
Having said that, I think there needs to be some sort of review of how the voting system of three sensors is carried out. In the case of frozen AoA probes, I would think it would be relatively easy to add a few lines of software code to detect an AoA probe that had not moved at all (i.e. given out exactly the same measurement) for several minutes, while variables such as the THS, aircraft altitude, outside air temperature, IAS/Mach, and engine thrust settings had all changed. If this was found to be the case, then vote THAT probe out. If a second probe was also logged in this way as being 'frozen' or seized, then vote that one out as well and alert the pilots via ECAM and going to Alternate law.
Last edited by Uplinker; 20th January 2015 at 10:53.