Read it all the way through. It's both interesting and chilling.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2014/10/air-france-flight-447-crash
Scott
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2014/10/air-france-flight-447-crash
Scott
A great story about aviation technology and its risk.
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Great article. A bit of embellishment but still makes the valid point:
"To put it briefly, automation has made it more and more unlikely that ordinary airline pilots will ever have to face a raw crisis in flight—but also more and more unlikely that they will be able to cope with such a crisis if one arises."
"To put it briefly, automation has made it more and more unlikely that ordinary airline pilots will ever have to face a raw crisis in flight—but also more and more unlikely that they will be able to cope with such a crisis if one arises."
The biggest glitch I read that the stall warnings ceased due to what the system interpreted as implausible data and began sounding again as the pilot pushed the nose down causing him to question that going nose down was the right thing to do.
BTW, the author of that article, William Langewiesche, is well worth following. He's one of the best journalists out there working.
He has written outstanding work on ground zero post-9/11, the shuttle Columbia disaster, and recently a really powerful story on the El Faro sinking. He was a commercial pilot before becoming a full-time journalist. So was his dad, too, Wolfgang. He was the author of the famous Stick and Rudder, test pilot and teacher, and then aviation journalist.
Basically, if you are interested in topics like this, read anything he writes.
He has written outstanding work on ground zero post-9/11, the shuttle Columbia disaster, and recently a really powerful story on the El Faro sinking. He was a commercial pilot before becoming a full-time journalist. So was his dad, too, Wolfgang. He was the author of the famous Stick and Rudder, test pilot and teacher, and then aviation journalist.
Basically, if you are interested in topics like this, read anything he writes.
We've talked about this (AF 447 as well as the Langeweische article) in other threads...
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/2249256/4
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3056942
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5063092/1
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4917574/1
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/2249256/4
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3056942
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5063092/1
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4917574/1
Nice read Slo Town. Thanks for posting.
Thanks Oro, I didn't know Langwiesche had a son who followed in his footsteps.
Thanks Oro, I didn't know Langwiesche had a son who followed in his footsteps.
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Maybe we should take a plane to work, Planes are much safer..
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm
Actually, I DO take a plane to work...
This is as much a story of a bad airline safety culture as it is one of the risks of technology.
Had the two in the cockpit been encouraged to hand fly more and use autopilot less, they would have had a better understanding of what was really happening.
Had the more senior of the two simply said "my airplane" when it became clear that the PF was utterly lost, the outcome might have been different.
Had the PIC acted in a more responsible manner and spent less time with his girlfriend and more time getting the rest needed to conduct an eleven hour flight across a vast ocean and through an area of known bad weather, things might have gone better.
More an indictment of the carrier than the airframe or the automation.
Had the two in the cockpit been encouraged to hand fly more and use autopilot less, they would have had a better understanding of what was really happening.
Had the more senior of the two simply said "my airplane" when it became clear that the PF was utterly lost, the outcome might have been different.
Had the PIC acted in a more responsible manner and spent less time with his girlfriend and more time getting the rest needed to conduct an eleven hour flight across a vast ocean and through an area of known bad weather, things might have gone better.
More an indictment of the carrier than the airframe or the automation.
Originally Posted by JLTD
Great article. A bit of embellishment but still makes the valid point:
"To put it briefly, automation has made it more and more unlikely that ordinary airline pilots will ever have to face a raw crisis in flight—but also more and more unlikely that they will be able to cope with such a crisis if one arises."
Same in the power industry...when it goes to whoop, the operator has seconds to work out where the machine is, how it got there, and what to do to correct it...consequences aren't the same as a plane, but the startle factor and amygdala function are the same.
Same as it's plain wrong to write "You as the driver are ultimately in control" on a car with autopilot, disengaging the driver from the mundane, but then expecting them to gather all the pieces for the really important stuff.
Great article. A bit of embellishment but still makes the valid point:
"To put it briefly, automation has made it more and more unlikely that ordinary airline pilots will ever have to face a raw crisis in flight—but also more and more unlikely that they will be able to cope with such a crisis if one arises."
Same in the power industry...when it goes to whoop, the operator has seconds to work out where the machine is, how it got there, and what to do to correct it...consequences aren't the same as a plane, but the startle factor and amygdala function are the same.
Same as it's plain wrong to write "You as the driver are ultimately in control" on a car with autopilot, disengaging the driver from the mundane, but then expecting them to gather all the pieces for the really important stuff.
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