Thread: air france a330 crash

So whose fault is it for being out of touch? The pilots' or the aeroplane's?

This accident was caused by a pilot doing a completely inexplicable thing that violates the most basic fundamental flying physics. Why, when flying straight and level in cruise would you pull full back stick when you had some erroneous indications. Why?

The advance of automation in aircraft has lead to things being safer. I fly Airbus and a smaller rugged military turboprop (read basic, not automated) for a living. I love the stick and rudder stuff in the turboprop, but the next day marvel at and appreciate the level of automation in the Airbus, in particular its safety features.

I don't blame the Airbus. I love the machine and its ways. The first A320s were ahead of their time, in a world when the most advanced technology in the average house was a VCR.

Automation dependency is a danger (google "Children of the Magenta Line) but that can be eliminated. Instead of checking to the bare minimum, spend some extra time in the sim with all the automatics off. Or give each pilot a few hours a year in a little Cessna (without an autopilot!) to keep his or her hand in on the basics . (In fact four hours in a Cessna probably equals one hour in an Airbus sim in cost!)

The other issue here which the airlines don't want addressed is the fact that young kids can get into an airline flying jet after paying $150k for a 12 month course and they have little real world flying experience, like flying around on dark stormy nights with no radar or autopilot. They only know flying through the computers and autopilot. When it all goes wrong, they have no instincts to fall back upon.

Why don't the airlines want this addressed? Because lots of kids (and their parents) have "shiny jet syndrome" and will pay the money for the cadetship (airline makes money) then accept a wage for several years of around $60k. at that bargain price for employees, the airlines are happy to accept the risk of inexperienced pilots.

A very 'down to earth' presentation.... - sorry, could'nt resist it