Reply to post: Re: You've got to be kidding! Indeed - as it is TOTALLY untrue

Re: You've got to be kidding! Indeed - as it is TOTALLY untrue

"Astonishingly, until the 737 Max crashes, the aircraft was flying with no redundancy at all for the flight control computers." This statement is completely incorrect, there are two backup systems to the FCC they are called Pilots. It is one of the reasons that the pilots are there, to take over WHEN automation fails.

Unlike some commercial aircraft the automatics can all be switched off in the 737 and it can them be flown just like any manual aircraft. Unfortunately, the airline beancounters do not like the expense of training completely manual flight and will often reprimand crews that try to practice manual flying . The result is that unlike earlier decades where pilots were proud of their manual flying skills, modern pilots tend to avoid actually flying the aircraft manually apart from the very constrained periods of take off and landing.

Automation is geared to failover to manual operation in both Airbus and Boeing aircraft (Air France 447 is a case where the failover to pilot control resulted in a crash) The problem is that the automatics handover to the flight crew when there is a problem, so it is not only manual flying that might be the first that the pilot has done at height in that aircrafft _ever_, it is also recovery from the problem that caused the automatics to fail.

Imagine a world with self driving cars where drivers had operated for years with only needing to assist in parking and leaving a parking slot. Now imagine if there is a failure the car reverts to a manual (stick shift) with no synchromesh so needing double declutching and heel and toe braking and gear change, no power steering or power brakes AND it has a problem and is in heavy traffic. This gives a very simplistic idea of what can happen in the cockpit when the automation drops out and hands control to the pilot.

Boeing designed the 737 decades ago for pilots who like to fly 'manually' but many of the new generation of pilots are not capable of flying manually to the same level as they are not allowed the training or experience.

IFF the aviaiton industry makes the automation even more efficient and reliable with no need to fail over then the experience levels of the flight crews will become even lower and they will be of even less use in an emergency. The best way forward would then be to never fail over to the flight crews indeed operate without them as a fully automated autonomous aircraft - there are many flying now for the military. Expect to see them at an airport near you sooner than you would think.

Would you fly in a fully automated aircraft? You are actually already doing so for most of the flight and the exceptions the flight crew are there to handle they often (demonstrably) cannot. So the decision is not in your hands.