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Sad day for Mxsmanic
Mike Ash wrote:
In article , "Robert M. Gary" wrote: On Feb 22, 8:28?pm, Mxsmanic wrote: Mike Ash writes: The bit in the article where he talks about a simmer being asked to land a passenger plane after the pilots have been debilitated is pretty funny. Absolutely no mention whatsoever of the difficulty or improbability of actually pulling off such a feat. It is simply assumed that it could be done. It can easily be done. Large commercial transports are heavily automated, and most flights are conducted under computer control for most of their durations. ?With the automation in operation, no particular flying skill is required to keep the aircraft flying, and since the automation can also land the aircraft, no particularly flying skill is required for landing, either. Because of this, any person of reasonable intelligence who can follow instructions precisely can land an airliner, with help over the radio from a pilot. I teach glass cockpit training and I see very intelligent, experienced pilots have lots of trouble working with the automation. In fact I have *never* encountered a pilot who thought it was easier to fly with the automation than to fly on old steam gauges. To be fair, that's a biased sample, as you're working with people who already have flying skill, so naturally they'll find flying to be the easy part. Somebody with a whole lot of experience with electronic gadgets but little experience with flying may not have that same experience. I'd expect a computer geek who has never touched real flight controls to have an easier time following instructions on button-pushing than control-handling, although he may well have a tough time of both, and I still have little confidence in the ultimate outcome unless somebody actually tries it and proves otherwise. There's also the psychological issue that most people think without constant "tending" of the airplane by both the pilots and air traffic control, an airplane will fall out of the sky. Your average person would likely be paralyzed by fear if told they had to land the airplane. Then there is the practical issue of finding someone who can tell a totally ignorant person how to find the necessary buttons to push and what to enter entirely from memory for a given random aircraft type. There is a reason for type training by airlines. -- Jim Pennino Remove .spam.sux to reply. |
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