Not a bad article at all, given it needs to make the technical matters simple enough for all readers to comprehend.
Besides the main premise that automation is as yet insufficiently mature to entrust it with as much responsibility as we do, the other is the human side.
Having been around aviation for a while and observed incidents and accidents over the years, I just feel very sorry for those involved. For a start you have the shock of the incident or accident, alarming enough particularly when there are injuries. Then you have the inevitable self-doubt.....'what if I'd done this, could I have done that better'. Then all too often you have the subtle distancing by airline management, it's often so much simpler to say 'pilot error' than to address the core issue. Fortunately Qantas seems intelligent in this regard but airlines in say Asia or the Middle East often simply sack the pilots and pretend the problem is then solved. It isn't and the pilots are destroyed.
Finally we have the smart-Alec judgment by so many of our peers; just look back at the numskuls on this very website so quick to pass judgement with so little information. Surely we as fellow professional aviators would be the greatest source of support but often we are armchair experts using the benefit of hindsight and shock-free thought processes. Although theatrical, this was illustrated in the recent 'Sully' movie where his peers in simulators were able to land safely after an engine flame out but totally pre-briefed and familiar with the farcical exercise they participated in. Without blaming them, it appears that by default they were part of a procedure designed to allocate blame to Sullenberger. I'm sure the movie was inaccurate but the process could not have helped Sullenberger's state of mind at the time.
I forever hear snippy comments from fellow aviators about the pilot of the other famous QF Airbus incident. Bottom line is that in both cases, aircraft behaving inexplicably were returned safely to earth and for that we should pat our colleagues on the back, regardless of the perceived peculiarities of how they did it. There by the grace of god go the rest of us.
Good article, well done to Captain Sullivan and hopefully he and the flight attendant mentioned can now put it behind them and enjoy life. And if the article is correct, hopefully Northrop Grumman will make sure their algorithms are improved in future.
Hope so, I'm about to go fly the same aircraft!