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Its not only Boeing thats had issues with automation: "I've learnt from these events, but none have generated the body response or trauma that this one has on
by rosege 7y ago
Its not only Boeing thats had issues with automation:
"I've learnt from these events, but none have generated the body response or trauma that this one has on October 7, 2008. This scenario involving computers, denial of control and potential mass casualties is at a different level. It seems we've survived a science-fiction scenario, a No Man's Land of automation failure on an unprecedented scale."
- CydeWeys 7y agoAt least none of these incidents killed anyone. Boeing's automation (MCAS specifically) has a lot of blood on its hands.
- rosege 7y agoYes good point! But it seems by luck/good piloting that it didn't kill anyone.
- CydeWeys 7y agoI think it's more than luck. The Airbus automation systems had sane failure modes. They realized they were dealing with malfunctioning input and returned manual control to the pilots. The 737 MAXes, on the other hand, trimmed the planes down all the way until they impacted into the ground. Also, the Airbus autopilot could be disabled. The 737 MAX MCAS system couldn't be; all they could disable was all electronic control over the trim motors, which shut off MCAS but also shut off the system they needed to be able to recover the trim entirely.
- makomk 7y agoLess luck, more good design. The accident investigation report reckons that this was close to the worst-case scenario: the first pitch-down was almost at the maximum possible, the other fault protection systems made it unlikely that more than two such uncommanded pitch-downs could happen in a flight, and it wasn't possible for this to happen anywhere near close enough to the ground that the pilots wouldn't be able to recover even if they panicked.