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This isn't true. The autopilot in a plane does nothing but keeping it's course. In this regard it does less than cruise control. It will not even disengage if y

This isn't true. The autopilot in a plane does nothing but keeping it's course. In this regard it does less than cruise control. It will not even disengage if you forget it is turned on some planes. TCAS will warn you ahead of time, that something needs your attention. This isn't failsafe. You can not (irl should not) do something else, like reading a book, while autopilot is in action. There is a study which links autopilot to 19 crashes and 175 minor incidents (which have been reported) sine 1983. If you take those numbers an put it into perspective, how often planes crash in general, it is not minor. Same goes for ships. https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/AM97-24.pdf https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/data_research/resear...

digitalPhonix 2y ago
The checkride required to get an IFR rating quite literally requires you to “read a book” (brief the approach plate to the flight inspector) while the autopilot conducts the initial parts of a precision approach. A 20 year old avionics suite (GTN 450) does much more than cruise control - you input a flight plan including an approach, it will fly the flight plan, capture the approach signals (VOR/localiser/whatever - which is far more complex than “keeping course”) all the way down to approach minimums. The report you linked is specifically about general aviation - not about commercial (part 121) aviation. GA lags behind by decades (still uses carburettored engines burning leaded fuels). In any case, it’s talking about error cases for autopilots, not the operational domain for when they should/shouldn’t be used. The key take away was improved training for identifying autopilot malfunctions and not reduce/eliminate the usage of autopilots in certain scenarios. > You can not (irl should not) do something else I’m curious, what autopilots have you used and what capabilities did they have?

digitalPhonix 2y ago

The checkride required to get an IFR rating quite literally requires you to “read a book” (brief the approach plate to the flight inspector) while the autopilot conducts the initial parts of a precision approach. A 20 year old avionics suite (GTN 450) does much more than cruise control - you input a flight plan including an approach, it will fly the flight plan, capture the approach signals (VOR/localiser/whatever - which is far more complex than “keeping course”) all the way down to approach minimums. The report you linked is specifically about general aviation - not about commercial (part 121) aviation. GA lags behind by decades (still uses carburettored engines burning leaded fuels). In any case, it’s talking about error cases for autopilots, not the operational domain for when they should/shouldn’t be used. The key take away was improved training for identifying autopilot malfunctions and not reduce/eliminate the usage of autopilots in certain scenarios. > You can not (irl should not) do something else I’m curious, what autopilots have you used and what capabilities did they have?