There is a recent accident/incident that I would like to
present and discuss. I believe there are
important lessons that the general aviation pilot can learn from it. The
accident is related to the switch from basic round dial instruments to the new
format: i.e. the glass cockpit-digital format. I have to admit to having only
flown the older systems. In the past I have discussed the necessity for at
least having some basic (round dial) back up, so I won’t go there again now.
But what is a new thing, the dependence on not only all digital instruments but
also the fully automated flight. My interest in this was sparked by a recent
headline in my local newspaper the Charlotte Observer, dated November 19,2013. The title As automation increases, pilots may lose
flying skills. Wow, you must be
kidding right? Hardly! Only two days ago a Boeing 747-400 cargo plane, not only
landed at the wrong airport, but admitted to the tower at another field (the
intended destination) that they didn’t know where they were.
I ask myself how is that possible? To help answer this and
learn more about the subject I googled Boeing 747-400 cockpit, and got some
wonderful pictures and discussions. There is so much information available from
all the cockpit displays that it is hard to imagine anyone getting lost or
confused as to where they are. The pilots of this flight landed at a wrong
airport that had an ILS that the pilots may have locked on. Great that they
were able to land there, but the field was some 3000 feet shorter than their
intended one. Special provisions had to
be made so that they could take-off again (offloading fuel and cargo). Wow,
that is a serious and dangerous goof.
Apparently the entire flight data can be loaded digitally
via a disc or some other way, and the pilots never have to enter any data or
look at a map. Sounds great doesn’t it? But wouldn’t common sense require one
to at least look at the entered data, readily available on one of many data
screens? I mean if you are headed some thousand or more miles to land at a
strange airport, it would be smart to look over the airport and approach data
ahead of time. So, the warning is against complacency and lack of oversight by
pilots relying almost totally on automation. Pilots beware. The next step will
be pilotless airliners etc!
Writing about flying long distances to a strange field and
landing under low IFR conditions, takes me back to trips I made while flying
charters in Beech 58 and Piper Navajos, up north while based in Vermont. Before any of these flights, I would look carefully at the weather, both actual and forecast.
Figure the time and required fuel, allowing for missed approaches and an
alternate landing site. When looking at alternate landing sites along the way, think what would be available in case of an emergency such as engine problems, weather or passenger illness etc. Now that wasn’t automated, it was done by me, the
responsible pilot. This not only put me fully into the information loop, but
also primed my brain for eventualities that might come up.
So, in summary. You the PIC (pilot in command) have a lot of
responsibility. Whether on auto-pilot or
manual mode, the safe operation of your plane depends on your good judgment. An
error such as happens.landing at the wrong airport or worse, is yours to deal
with. You really can’t blame it on the auto-pilot.
When sitting in the left seat, make sure that you are in control and fully accountable for all
that
