2 ms·

This is the partisanship I'm talking about, for what it's worth. I've flown an A320 in a full-size simulator and my experience with its sidestick, even in that

This is the partisanship I'm talking about, for what it's worth. I've flown an A320 in a full-size simulator and my experience with its sidestick, even in that simulator environment, does not match what you are describing. The sidestick moves quite far and quite noticeably[0], and does not behave like a ThinkPad. The aircraft simply ignores drastic input, which might be what you're thinking of with that assessment? Anyway, I'd imagine if I were PIC of this flight and my aircraft suddenly pitched down 18 degrees, the sidestick would be the first thing I'd look at in about the first 750 milliseconds. Not sure why that didn't happen here, but I tend not to judge pilots from accident reports, so I have't put a lot of thought into it. I can't imagine a scenario where any camera could conceal itself in that arrangement, unless the A330 has huge voids under the stick that the A320 does not. Even stopping short of judging the PIC, I have a hard time imagining an outcome where this is an Airbus control flaw, no matter the (as one can see, passionate) opinions on sidestick. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zBsxJdI5JI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zBsxJdI5JI

xenadu02 10y ago
I don't think the sidestick is the problem, it's the lack of feedback and the fact that the system ignores conflicting input. Boeing undoubtedly does that one aspect correctly: Regardless of the type of stick the two inputs are linked so if the captain is giving strange input it would be <i>immediately</i> obvious to the copilot. There is no reason Airbus couldn't implement the same system on their sidesticks. The fact that conflicting input causes the system to ignore both seems like downright insanity and based on the assumption of one input being defective, rather than conflict between pilots. A simple fix might be to include a hand detection mechanism and ignore input from the stick that doesn't have a hand present unless it is the only input and is not overridden.

xenadu02 10y ago

I don't think the sidestick is the problem, it's the lack of feedback and the fact that the system ignores conflicting input. Boeing undoubtedly does that one aspect correctly: Regardless of the type of stick the two inputs are linked so if the captain is giving strange input it would be <i>immediately</i> obvious to the copilot. There is no reason Airbus couldn't implement the same system on their sidesticks. The fact that conflicting input causes the system to ignore both seems like downright insanity and based on the assumption of one input being defective, rather than conflict between pilots. A simple fix might be to include a hand detection mechanism and ignore input from the stick that doesn't have a hand present unless it is the only input and is not overridden.