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I'm trying to imagine any computer that would have coped with my IFR search and rescue flight last week. Non-standard requests and things that can't be seen by

I'm trying to imagine any computer that would have coped with my IFR search and rescue flight last week. Non-standard requests and things that can't be seen by ATC affect things a lot. One other silly small example that feels complicated was requesting a visual approach but having to wait for a vector because there was one exactly-airport-shaped cloud in the way. I think pilots get a lot of situational awareness as well from listening to the common frequency.

dustintrex 5y ago
Sure, I'm not saying we should throw out the radios, but 90% of those comms are pretty standardized.
scoopertrooper 5y ago
> I'm trying to imagine any computer that would have coped with my IFR search and rescue flight last week. Non-standard requests and things that can't be seen by ATC affect things a lot. One other silly small example that feels complicated was requesting a visual approach but having to wait for a vector because there was one exactly-airport-shaped cloud in the way. I don't pretend to know much about aircraft control, but my understanding is that controllers generally are hopping between several planes in quick succession and they follow a strict subset of English when communicating with pilots. So, I'd be surprised if the task required advanced reasoning skills that would be impossible recreate in an algorithm. > I think pilots get a lot of situational awareness as well from listening to the common frequency. That seems like it could be solved in other ways though. For instance, the airport could publish the relevant information into a data stream and broadcast it to air traffic. It could be displayed on a screen within the cockpit. The cockpit could also have a computer that read certain information aloud to the pilots to provide important information without them needing to look at the screen. Furthermore, airports could broadcast the same alerts on the old analogue radio channels to legacy aircraft.

dustintrex 5y ago

Sure, I'm not saying we should throw out the radios, but 90% of those comms are pretty standardized.

scoopertrooper 5y ago

> I'm trying to imagine any computer that would have coped with my IFR search and rescue flight last week. Non-standard requests and things that can't be seen by ATC affect things a lot. One other silly small example that feels complicated was requesting a visual approach but having to wait for a vector because there was one exactly-airport-shaped cloud in the way. I don't pretend to know much about aircraft control, but my understanding is that controllers generally are hopping between several planes in quick succession and they follow a strict subset of English when communicating with pilots. So, I'd be surprised if the task required advanced reasoning skills that would be impossible recreate in an algorithm. > I think pilots get a lot of situational awareness as well from listening to the common frequency. That seems like it could be solved in other ways though. For instance, the airport could publish the relevant information into a data stream and broadcast it to air traffic. It could be displayed on a screen within the cockpit. The cockpit could also have a computer that read certain information aloud to the pilots to provide important information without them needing to look at the screen. Furthermore, airports could broadcast the same alerts on the old analogue radio channels to legacy aircraft.