5 ms·
It sounds like that it's not a "Panic" button that pilots need, but a "Filter" button. Where if you've got 10 alarms going off, the "Filter" shows you the 1 or
by jedc 15y ago
It sounds like that it's not a "Panic" button that pilots need, but a "Filter" button. Where if you've got 10 alarms going off, the "Filter" shows you the 1 or 2 alarms that matter most and need immediate action. Certainly the computational horsepower for this already exists onboard!
- bonzoesc 15y agoThe logic exists too, but it's stored in binders full of easily-updated paper checklists instead of hard-to-update computer software (hard-to-update because FAA certification takes time).
- PakG1 15y agoThis type of result is attained with experience. My own experience (and many other people I know feel the same) regarding pressure and panic is that you need to have experience to be able to withstand pressure and panic, not better filtered information. Even with only a few alarms, it's easy for inexperienced people to get panicked about something. But the claims of Sullenberger, the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson river, are sobering. http://www.businessinsider.com/capt-sullenberger-stop-cutting-pilot-pay-or-next-time-plane-will-crash-in-river-2009-2 http://www.businessinsider.com/capt-sullenberger-stop-cuttin...
- khafra 15y agoWould you recommend that airlines publicize the experience of the pilot on each flight, and offer discounts for travelling with less experienced pilots? Because, other than with something like this, "experience" doesn't sound like an alternative to a "panic button" or a "filter button." Where does the experience come from?
- PakG1 15y agoIt comes from training in flight school, smaller planes, the air force, etc. There are lots of ways to get quality experience before making the jump to the big planes.
- khafra 15y agoI'm pretty sure all major airlines require a ton of hours on smaller planes, and often large cargo planes, before flying passenger jets--so perhaps experience is not the panacea, or must be more carefully tailored to include the right kinds of crisis situations.
- Nick_C 15y ago> I'm pretty sure all major airlines require a ton of hours on smaller planes... That used to be true, and may be right now, but the trend is towards airlines accepting simulator time in lieu. The trouble with that is that simulators are subject to the same problem as any other complex input device: if you haven't foreseen the problem beforehand, you don't program the simulator to model it, and the pilot isn't trained to handle it. Experience can help that simulator time can't. The recent high-pressure turbine blade failure on Qantas is a case in point where the pilots were overwhelmed with page after page of error faults, 145 of them if I remember correctly. If they hadn't been very fortunate to have two other senior captains in the cockpit with them, they would have had a great deal of trouble dealing with the information flow. Personally, as a light aircraft pilot myself, I would not be comfortable with young airline pilots with only simulator experience. At least one of them needs to have a few thousand hours of hands-on-stick experience.
- khafra 15y agoInteresting, and disturbing. I sure hope that after every air disaster or near disaster, a new scenario is added to the mandatory simulator training.
- trafficlight 15y agoI think the problem needs to be seen as a whole. The specific combination of the current warning alarms is more important than one single alarm.