The Boeing Co. (BA) 777 is one of the world’s most advanced jets, capable of flying automatically most of the time and catching pilot errors before they endanger a flight. That technology may also be a drawback.
Because it’s so tempting to let the 777 fly itself, pilots can allow their flying skills to atrophy or become confused when systems don’t work as expected, said aviation safety experts and pilots who have flown it.
Determining how the pilots of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 interacted with the jet’s automation has become a top priority for investigators looking into why the plane crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman said yesterday in an interview.
Cockpit automation has played a role in several recent accidents by confusing pilots, particularly when they became startled or the equipment acted in unusual ways, Rory Kay, the former air safety chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in an interview. ALPA is the largest pilots’ union in North America.
“How well trained are we to handle departure from the norm?” said Kay, who declined to discuss the Asiana accident.
On Feb. 25, 2009, a Turkish Airlines Inc. Boeing 737-800 crashed on approach to Amsterdam, killing nine people. An erroneous altitude reading caused the plane’s automatic throttles to slow the plane, causing it to lose lift and plunge to the ground, the Dutch Safety Board concluded.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is now trying to determine whether pilot training should better address cockpit automation, Woods said.
Pilots today need to have technical savvy as well as traditional “stick and rudder” skills, John Cox, a former airline pilot who has participated in NTSB investigations, said in an interview.
“The concern is the pilots who become automation-dependent to the degradation of their manual flying skills,” Cox said.
10/07/13 Alex Levin/Bloomberg.com
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Because it’s so tempting to let the 777 fly itself, pilots can allow their flying skills to atrophy or become confused when systems don’t work as expected, said aviation safety experts and pilots who have flown it.
Determining how the pilots of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 interacted with the jet’s automation has become a top priority for investigators looking into why the plane crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman said yesterday in an interview.
Cockpit automation has played a role in several recent accidents by confusing pilots, particularly when they became startled or the equipment acted in unusual ways, Rory Kay, the former air safety chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in an interview. ALPA is the largest pilots’ union in North America.
“How well trained are we to handle departure from the norm?” said Kay, who declined to discuss the Asiana accident.
On Feb. 25, 2009, a Turkish Airlines Inc. Boeing 737-800 crashed on approach to Amsterdam, killing nine people. An erroneous altitude reading caused the plane’s automatic throttles to slow the plane, causing it to lose lift and plunge to the ground, the Dutch Safety Board concluded.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is now trying to determine whether pilot training should better address cockpit automation, Woods said.
Pilots today need to have technical savvy as well as traditional “stick and rudder” skills, John Cox, a former airline pilot who has participated in NTSB investigations, said in an interview.
“The concern is the pilots who become automation-dependent to the degradation of their manual flying skills,” Cox said.
10/07/13 Alex Levin/Bloomberg.com
