5 ms·

Not necessarily. There are many moments during the operation of an aircraft where full attention is paramount. Yes, you see a pilot leaving the cockpit to use t

by vwcx 7y ago

Not necessarily. There are many moments during the operation of an aircraft where full attention is paramount. Yes, you see a pilot leaving the cockpit to use the lavatory while the co-pilot is monitoring the autopilot, but the margins are just as small as operating a motor vehicle.

thoraway1010 7y ago
Absolutely not true. In cruise, stabilized, especially with AP - the margins are MUCH MUCH higher. Pilots have fallen asleep (two of them) - overflown airports still landed etc.
- saiya-jin 7y ago
  I think major difference is commercial airliner vs say fighter jet. As a layman it still seems pretty wrong to make most of the screen highly dynamic. Maybe designated one on the side. Back to the topic - in car, unless specifically intended for other passengers, driver should never stare on some stupid screen in a place way off the line of sight for driving. Whenever I do that even for a split second in my 15-year old bmw (checking if that knob is really for what I want), there can be an atomic blast in front of me and I wouldn't see it.
  - sudosysgen 7y ago
    Fighter jets are starting to use touchscreens, too.
    - mcguire 7y ago
      Because fancy, advanced UIs work so well for Navy ships.
  - thoraway1010 7y ago
    I'm not arguing for touch screens - I don't like them, but to say a commercial pilot in cruise at 30K in controlled airspace with controlled separations and TCAS / ADS-B has margins as low as someone driving 85 MPH with traffic literally 50 feet in front of them is absolutely ridiculous. The spacing distances alone are 100x different (in terms of travel time). Deaths and injuries per mile traveled supports the idea that flying is MUCH MUCH safer.
- 205guy 7y ago
  I remember when that happened, pretty shocking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go!_(airline)#2008_incident_and_investigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go!_(airline)#2008_incident_an...
cmckn 7y ago
My partner is a first officer, and frequently describes his job as being a glorified babysitter outside of takeoff and landing. Worth noting that a significant amount of the information pilots use in the cockpit (at major US carriers, at least), things like flight plans, are on an iPad.
- BrandonMarc 7y ago
  ... until something goes wrong. Then a touch screen is the last thing you want. An airliner moving uncontrollably is no time to try touching just the right spot of the screen, and avoid touching the wrong spot.
  - akamaozu 7y ago
    Was team screen til this point. In critical systems, you want to make sure inputs are easy to use in the worst case scenario. Even the best of touchscreens can't compare to physical controls in tough times.
  - raziel2p 7y ago
    I can just as easily make the argument the other way around: An airliner moving uncontrollably is no time to try touching just the right knob (of which there are like a hundred), and avoid touching the wrong one.
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      You'd be wrong. The critical controls are uniquely shaped so that the pilot can put his hands quickly on the correct one and know it's correct. Part of pilot training (at least in my dad's day in the AF) was blindfolding the pilot and the instructor names a control, and the student must put his hands on it. Or he flunks.
    - olnluis 7y ago
      I don't believe this is equivalent though. With hardware controls, most (if not all) of them are immediately accessible at all times. With proper training, body movement and tactile feedback will train your muscle memory which will help you find the right control without much of a hassle.
colechristensen 7y ago
Modern airliners are just short of autonomous. Even if they aren't, unless you are landing or on initial ascent, you are generally minutes away from catastrophic outcomes regardless of your control inputs. In fact, most of the time, if something bad is happening, simply letting go of the controls will lead to the issue resolving itself. A car is very often fractions of a second away from a serious accident. A plane at cruise altitude is rarely less than minutes away (unless, in some planes, you are actively trying to crash the plane/make the wings fall off)
- iruoy 7y ago
  > In fact, most of the time, if something bad is happening, simply letting go of the controls will lead to the issue resolving itself. Unless you're flying a Boeing 737 MAX that is.
drewmol 7y ago
Indian Road Congress specifications recommend 3.5m minimum lane width for multi lane roads, 1.06m minimum center margin. Airplanes complex enough for touchscreen interfaces would be awful tight in those margins ;)

by vwcx 7y ago

thoraway1010 7y ago

Absolutely not true. In cruise, stabilized, especially with AP - the margins are MUCH MUCH higher. Pilots have fallen asleep (two of them) - overflown airports still landed etc.

saiya-jin 7y ago
I think major difference is commercial airliner vs say fighter jet. As a layman it still seems pretty wrong to make most of the screen highly dynamic. Maybe designated one on the side. Back to the topic - in car, unless specifically intended for other passengers, driver should never stare on some stupid screen in a place way off the line of sight for driving. Whenever I do that even for a split second in my 15-year old bmw (checking if that knob is really for what I want), there can be an atomic blast in front of me and I wouldn't see it.
- sudosysgen 7y ago
  Fighter jets are starting to use touchscreens, too.
  - mcguire 7y ago
    Because fancy, advanced UIs work so well for Navy ships.
- thoraway1010 7y ago
  I'm not arguing for touch screens - I don't like them, but to say a commercial pilot in cruise at 30K in controlled airspace with controlled separations and TCAS / ADS-B has margins as low as someone driving 85 MPH with traffic literally 50 feet in front of them is absolutely ridiculous. The spacing distances alone are 100x different (in terms of travel time). Deaths and injuries per mile traveled supports the idea that flying is MUCH MUCH safer.
205guy 7y ago
I remember when that happened, pretty shocking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go!_(airline)#2008_incident_and_investigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go!_(airline)#2008_incident_an...

cmckn 7y ago

My partner is a first officer, and frequently describes his job as being a glorified babysitter outside of takeoff and landing. Worth noting that a significant amount of the information pilots use in the cockpit (at major US carriers, at least), things like flight plans, are on an iPad.

BrandonMarc 7y ago
... until something goes wrong. Then a touch screen is the last thing you want. An airliner moving uncontrollably is no time to try touching just the right spot of the screen, and avoid touching the wrong spot.
- akamaozu 7y ago
  Was team screen til this point. In critical systems, you want to make sure inputs are easy to use in the worst case scenario. Even the best of touchscreens can't compare to physical controls in tough times.
- raziel2p 7y ago
  I can just as easily make the argument the other way around: An airliner moving uncontrollably is no time to try touching just the right knob (of which there are like a hundred), and avoid touching the wrong one.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    You'd be wrong. The critical controls are uniquely shaped so that the pilot can put his hands quickly on the correct one and know it's correct. Part of pilot training (at least in my dad's day in the AF) was blindfolding the pilot and the instructor names a control, and the student must put his hands on it. Or he flunks.
  - olnluis 7y ago
    I don't believe this is equivalent though. With hardware controls, most (if not all) of them are immediately accessible at all times. With proper training, body movement and tactile feedback will train your muscle memory which will help you find the right control without much of a hassle.

colechristensen 7y ago

Modern airliners are just short of autonomous. Even if they aren't, unless you are landing or on initial ascent, you are generally minutes away from catastrophic outcomes regardless of your control inputs. In fact, most of the time, if something bad is happening, simply letting go of the controls will lead to the issue resolving itself. A car is very often fractions of a second away from a serious accident. A plane at cruise altitude is rarely less than minutes away (unless, in some planes, you are actively trying to crash the plane/make the wings fall off)

iruoy 7y ago
> In fact, most of the time, if something bad is happening, simply letting go of the controls will lead to the issue resolving itself. Unless you're flying a Boeing 737 MAX that is.

drewmol 7y ago

Indian Road Congress specifications recommend 3.5m minimum lane width for multi lane roads, 1.06m minimum center margin. Airplanes complex enough for touchscreen interfaces would be awful tight in those margins ;)