The increasing automation of aircraft is an alarming trend. While I’m all for autopilot to some extent, modern aircraft’s over-reliance on software cannot be a good thing for safety. The thought that our lives can depend on a software update going as planned is bone-chilling, when we consider how often these updates go wrong in our phones, cars and other devices.
We are not sufficiently putting pilots through the paces where they develop skillsets like the pilots of old. If Sullenberger had come up through the ranks today, there would likely not have been a safe landing on the Hudson.
‘Hal” on 2001, a Space Odyssey, said he was, “foolproof and incapable of error.” He had to be disconnected to take back control of the ship.
A few years back I put a 1960’s era JD tractor in the shop. When I inquired about the repair status a few weeks later the service manager said he was busy with a brand new one in there ($250,000), and he could not figure out why it would only travel in circles, and was close to calling the factory in. My point is, these large companies have the top engineers in the country, yet computer issues often control the day. A lot of farmers want tractors before all the computers were added, as they might be able to diagnose a problem without calling out an expensive dealer crew. I also don’t care to ride Uber if there is no driver at the controls; I can just see the car headed for the water with the doors locked and myself banging on the windows!
The increasing automation of aircraft is an alarming trend. While I’m all for autopilot to some extent, modern aircraft’s over-reliance on software cannot be a good thing for safety. The thought that our lives can depend on a software update going as planned is bone-chilling, when we consider how often these updates go wrong in our phones, cars and other devices.
We are not sufficiently putting pilots through the paces where they develop skillsets like the pilots of old. If Sullenberger had come up through the ranks today, there would likely not have been a safe landing on the Hudson.
‘Hal” on 2001, a Space Odyssey, said he was, “foolproof and incapable of error.” He had to be disconnected to take back control of the ship.
A few years back I put a 1960’s era JD tractor in the shop. When I inquired about the repair status a few weeks later the service manager said he was busy with a brand new one in there ($250,000), and he could not figure out why it would only travel in circles, and was close to calling the factory in. My point is, these large companies have the top engineers in the country, yet computer issues often control the day. A lot of farmers want tractors before all the computers were added, as they might be able to diagnose a problem without calling out an expensive dealer crew. I also don’t care to ride Uber if there is no driver at the controls; I can just see the car headed for the water with the doors locked and myself banging on the windows!