4 ms·
It seems fundamentally unreasonable for the flight processing system to entirely shut itself down just because it detected that one flight plan had corrupt data
by aftbit 2y ago
It seems fundamentally unreasonable for the flight processing system to entirely shut itself down just because it detected that one flight plan had corrupt data. Some degree of robustness should be expected from this system IMO.
- HeyLaughingBoy 2y agoIt depends on what the potential outcomes are. I've worked on a (medical, not aviation) system where we tried as much as possible to recover from subsystem failures or at least gracefully reduce functionality until it was safe to shut everything down. However, there were certain classes of failure where the safest course of action was to shut the entire system down immediately. This was generally the case where continuing to run could have made matters worse, putting patient safety at risk. I suspect that the designers of this system ran into the same problem.
- mannykannot 2y agoIt does not seem reasonable when you put it like that, but when could it be said with confidence that it only affected just one flight plan? I get the impression that it is only in hindsight that this could be seen to be so. On the face of it, this was just an ordinary transatlantic flight like thousands of others, with no reason to think there was anything unusual about it to make it more vulnerable than the rest - and really, there was not, it just had an unlucky combination of parameters. In general, the point where a problem first becomes apparent is not a guideline to its scope. Air traffic control is inherently a coordination problem dependent on common data, rules and procedures, which would seem to limit the degree to which subsystems can be siloed. Multiple implementations would not have helped in this case, either.
- MBCook 2y agoI think you’re on the right track, I assume it’s safety. If one bad flight plan came in, what are the chances other unnoticed errors may be getting through? Given the huge danger involved with being wrong shutting down with a “stuff doesn’t add up, no confidence in safe operation” error may be the best approach.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- cryptonector 2y agoShutting down a flight control system might have other knock-on effects on flight safety. Even if it merely only grounded flights not yet in the air, the resulting confusion might lead to manual mistakes and/or subsequent air lane congestion that might cause collisions.
- mannykannot 2y agoevery option had risks associated with it, and they are hard to assess until you know how deep the problem goes.