121 Single Pilot Cockpit

[retrodx]

Speaking of more holes in the cheese... Thoughts??

Airlines are lobbying for a change to federal regulations that could put one pilot in the cockpit

The move could help solve the staffing crisis caused by the pilot shortage, but the pilots unions argue it would make the skies less safe.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Shock-Diamonds]

It will never happen... A single pilot would likely be far less safe than just full automation. The chances of an accident from human error go astronomically higher when not backed up by an addtional human. Also, these days you can never have just one pilot in the cockpit, which is to prevent past pilot suicide/ mass murder events.

 

[ppragman]

Finally the <checks logbook> nearly 5000hrs of single pilot IFR will be worth something to the airlines….

I doubt this will happen tbh, hard to justify it in a world where the dumbasses at the TSA freak out about “insider threat” - which in their defense IS a thing, but is a stupid thing to be worried about. Full automation is probably more realistic.

 

[z987k]

Single? Screw that, I don't like flights with just 2 pilots. 3 minimum on all flights!
The value of that 3rd guy is very high. They tend to have the picture better than the two guys in front of them. Kind of like the Check airman in the sim. Yes. He did in fact see every little small mistake you made. Difference is the 3rd guy is on your team fixing stuff.

 

[ppragman]

Single? Screw that, I don't like flights with just 2 pilots. 3 minimum on all flights!
The value of that 3rd guy is very high. They tend to have the picture better than the two guys in front of them. Kind of like the Check airman in the sim. Yes. He did in fact see every little small mistake you made. Difference is the 3rd guy is on your team fixing stuff.

Maybe we could see something like badass AI that understands how a human flies the airplane then steps in to catch your errors with a cool and calming voice “You are in ALT select Dave, not VNAV… is that what you really want?” “I can’t do that for you Dave! We’re below 500AGL!” <Airbus intensifies>

 

[DaWolf85]

Speaking of more holes in the cheese... Thoughts??

Airlines are lobbying for a change to federal regulations that could put one pilot in the cockpit

The move could help solve the staffing crisis caused by the pilot shortage, but the pilots unions argue it would make the skies less safe.

www.cbsnews.com

The nicest possible way to word it is... there may come a time when this is safe. But that time sure as hell ain't now.

 

[A1TAPE]

Its contract season. The airlines are just flexing their muscles. Wont ever pass.

 

[A1TAPE]

Maybe we could see something like badass AI that understands how a human flies the airplane then steps in to catch your errors with a cool and calming voice “You are in ALT select Dave, not VNAV… is that what you really want?” “I can’t do that for you Dave! We’re below 500AGL!” <Airbus intensifies>

That already happened with the Airbus demo flight in France. Sorry Dave we are in FLARE mode, I can't let you go around. *Terrain ahead intensifies*

 

[Minuteman]

I don't know about single-pilat, but you should always check out the author of a news story when possible. I was mildly impressed that they bothered to explain (correctly) what FAR 121 is.

This dude seems to have a dream career writing about travel.

https://www.youtube.com/@PeterGreenberg/videos

 

[GypsyPilot]

That already happened with the Airbus demo flight in France. Sorry Dave we are in FLARE mode, I can't let you go around. *Terrain ahead intensifies*

That’s not what happened in that particular situation from what I recall. It does seem like people often (incorrectly) think the “computer” was the cause of that accident though.

 

[A1TAPE]

That’s not what happened in that particular situation from what I recall. It does seem like people often (incorrectly) think the “computer” was the cause of that accident though.

The way I understood it was the computer was in FLARE mode based on gear down, flaps XX, thrust setting, and RA. Thus the crew couldn't get full pitch authority to execute a go around.

 

[Bob Ridpath]

In my Boomeresque way, endearing or annoying as it might be, I think we already yield too much control to the faeries, elves and demons of AI in everyday living. My spellcheck is absolute proof of that to my feeble mind. Damned thing misspells stuff with FAR greater frequency than I might ever aspire to.

I want people piloting the plane upon which I ride, or the train or the bus. Can they screw up? Of course! But at the end of the day they want to go home alive and well as much as I do.

Mock me if you will, but I'm throwing my lot in with the meat sacks and not the electronics. I'm not anxious to shuffle off this mortal coil, but I'm damned happy I don't have to live with the work, except peripherally, of what seems to be coming down the pike.

 

[GypsyPilot]

The way I understood it was the computer was in FLARE mode based on gear down, flaps XX, thrust setting, and RA. Thus the crew couldn't get full pitch authority to execute a go around.

It’s more like they got behind the power curve, and also the engines were spooled down:

Air France Flight 296Q - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Fly By Wire: The crash of Air France flight 296

On the 26th of June 1988, a brand new Air France Airbus A320 on a charter flight with 136 people on board performed a low speed fly-by at…

admiralcloudberg.medium.com

It’s true they were pitch/AOA limited by the flight control computers. But that protected them from fully stalling the airplane, which would’ve almost certainly killed many more people.

 

[///AMG]

<< checks logbook>> 2500 hrs as sole manipulator of the only set of controls and PIC in pure FBW jets. There is nothing sinister or really non-traditional (in an actual stick and rudder sense) about these control systems. The age old story of "you are just a voting member" couldn't be more factually incorrect. There is a space available for folks who don't understand the actual control laws to reside. They sometimes get grumpy when they ask the airplane to do things that are not aerodynamically possible, and it tells them no. This almost without exception, leads to a better outcome though

 

[web265]

seems odd timing, didn't we just have a CA on IOE pass away seconds after takeoff?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Until the 737 VNAV is able to manage an entire descent without pilots intervening to help it out I'm not going to really spend a lot of time worrying about pilotless (or single pilot for that matter) airliners.

The cornerstone of aviation safety is CRM/RRM etc. They can create the technology to make this happen but it'll be a generation before it does.

 

[who'swho]

When every pilot with a pulse is being hired, even pilots who have zero business being at the controls, is that any safer than a single cockpit with an experienced pilot? I mean, just the idea of flying isn't "safe". We mitigate those risks but still none of this is technically safe. Whether we like it or not the shortage will continue to put pressure on this idea. The technology is probably close to being ready to support having a backup drone pilot watching a couple flights at a time ready to takeover in an emergency. And let's face it, this would only happen on cargo flights, to start with. May seem like I'm playing devil's advocate but I hope none of this happens just feels like we're on the precipice.

 

[///AMG]

Soon they will be hiring pilots with no pulse. So it can get worse