Too much automation and too much information on giant LED MFDs allow people who don’t understand flying to seemingly safely fly. They also allow Pilots to loose their skills since the toys are so helpful. When the automation fails and then MFDs go blank you will still need a pilot who knows attitude flying and needle, ball and airspeed skills. Flying training needs to make sure that all pilots understand their airplane. AQP is a good start.
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Many of our younger pilots cannot navigate to the local Duncan-Donuts without a digital display.
The poll is poorly done. It’s really 3:1 FOR the MAX from airline pilots.
> But those things occur in a vanishingly small percentage of flights.
But that’s why we have pilots - in case there is a problem. Because those 200 passengers per trip expect to arrive safely, and can’t fathom anything else.
The families of the MH370 accident camped out at the airport for a year waiting for their loved ones to return - the idea that a planeload of passengers could just disappear was not something they expected or could process. It’s our job as aviation professionals to prevent that from happening.
Although the US is averaging 0 accidents per year now, that doesn’t mean it won’t be more in a future year if we get complacent.
I’m still very troubled that the 737 MAX software was outsourced to $15/hour programmers, and that Boeing submitted false documents to the FAA.
Software is not a black box with a connector that isolates the device from the overall aircraft. Software outputs don’t obey the laws of physics - how it’s written and tested matters.
Whether false documnents are submitted to the FAA knowingly or unknowingly, that shouldn’t happen, especially with aerospace products that are life-critical for hundreds of people per trip.
For those unfamiliar with how aerospace is regulated, the FAA relies primarily on documentation submitted by mfgs. The FAA doesn’t lurk in factories 24x7 with flashlights inspecting each part.