Air Asia 8501. When will we learn?

[Polar742]

I don't know that the author drew the right conclusion but it's becoming abundantly evident that there are some deficiencies in training about dealing with weather and aerodynamics in the high altitude cruise environment.

You don't know what the cause was yet.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Yeah I mean I like the flavor of his rabble rabble but it might be just a WEE bit too early to blame these damned kids for everything.

 

[Roger Roger]

You don't know what the cause was yet.

Yeah, maybe it was completely unrelated to the weather in the vicinity and the pilot's request for weather deviation and will turn out to be utterly dissimilar to other high altitude upsets mentored in here.

 

[JOEFRIDAY2]

The OP makes a point, but the entire picture has to be looked at here--not just the three incidents where highly experienced pilots were not able to safely land the aircraft that was flying on automation.

There are some trade offs with the automation in today's modern airliners. The automation makes the flight path more accurate and stable. It makes for a more comfortable ride for the passengers. It takes the workload off of the pilots. Automation keeps us on course. It makes most landings a whole lot smoother and more accurate. Automation allows pilots to much more aware of the weather, the closest airport, and the closest aircraft at all times. Automation allow warns pilots about systems that are not operating correctly. There is no question about it. Automation makes for a safer and smoother flight. That's the good part.

The bad part is exactly what the OP says. Your true hand flying skills get rusty simply because you aren't hand flying anymore. When we have these three incidents the problem is magnified.

However we must not throw automation under the plane because a small fraction of less than 1% of all commercial airlines have incidents. We all strive for no incidents. We get pretty damn close.

I personally do not want to go back to all hand flying. It requires intense concentration and wears you out. Yes I can do it. But just because I can does not mean that I should.

Times have changed. Man has invented automation for the benefit of man. I love using it and know that it is so much safer.

Joe

 

[dustoff17]

Pure rubbish. High time retired pilots are better suited dispensing wisdom, not speculation.

One of the problems with this article is that the pinhead author thinks he IS dispensing wisdom!

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

@ATN_Pilot just had a seizure.

Nah. It's so poorly written and based on ludicrous speculation that it's not even worth the effort. I think the old dude has dementia.

 

[T/O w/FSII]

Nah. It's so poorly written and based on ludicrous speculation that it's not even worth the effort. I think the old dude has dementia.

He's back!!

 

[ChasenSFO]

I love how many of these kind of "Well you see what happened was" articles exist about the two unsolved air disasters of 2014. Again, unsolved. Let the investigators do their job, then we'll see what we can learn from it all. A 172 in a crater 20 miles from civilization or an A320 at the bottom of the Ocean, one is much more high profile than the other, but again, until at least a preliminary report, it's just as foolish to answer definitively on either one.

 

[derg]

I love how many of these kind of "Well you see what happened was" articles exist about the two unsolved air disasters of 2014. Again, unsolved. Let the investigators do their job, then we'll see what we can learn from it all. A 172 in a crater 20 miles from civilization or an A320 at the bottom of the Ocean, one is much more high profile than the other, but again, until at least a preliminary report, it's just as foolish to answer definitively on either one.

Social media was "afire with 'CVR says "Allah Akbar"' over the sounds of anything but an Airbus.

But you know the Facebook lunatics… Aye yi yi.