An even more troubling aspect is the increasing lack of ability for our pilots to fly by hand instead of relying on the autopilot. A large number of accidents t

An even more troubling aspect is the increasing lack of ability for our pilots to fly by hand instead of relying on the autopilot. A large number of accidents today, like the Asiana 214 that went into the SFO airport sea wall, could easily be avoided if either the PIC or the FO pay attention to what's happening around them instead of having their eyes glued to the colorful shiny dials. Take Asiana 214 - the PIC had pulled engine power to idle, flew far too low on his approach to runway 28L, expected automation to pick up slack, didn't bother to visually check if things were all right, and crashed into the sea wall.