Another air crash

[oldman]

Just received an e-mail from Southwest that they are grounding all MAX-8’s and -9’s. I think there is 34 aircraft affected by their decision. Schedules will be slightly affected and some flights will need to be cancelled. Passengers will be accommodated as necessary, so that their travel plans will be affected only slightly, if at all.

Good move on their part. They are to be commended for their due diligence in their handling of this matter. It’s always important for airlines to step up and do the right thing, even if it means some loss of revenue.

 

[oldman]

To me, these 737 crashes sound like "technology" gone wrong, and the pilots involved not being properly trained to react quickly in case of a malfunction in this particular autopilot system. I am in favor of most types of technology, but I am not comfortable with aircraft being flown by "computer"....the Pilot should Always be fully in charge, with technology "assisting" him/her. I had a lifelong career in fixing broken computers, and never had a loss of workload.

This type of thing is why I am also rather sceptical of the day when "self driving" cars become commonplace....if/when that day arrives, I suspect that traffic wrecks will skyrocket.

It’s kind of ironic that you mention this. Most everyone probably already knows this, but Airbus uses what they call Fly-By-Wire technology. It’s an interface that uses the FMS, Autopilot and other electronic devices that are computer controlled. I have seen demonstrations where an Airbus pilot will taxi out to the runway, go into his/her takeoff roll, begin to climb, turn on the FBW system and if everything goes well throughout the flight, no need to take back the controls until the pilot begins his final approach.

There is is a bit more to it than that, but you get the idea. Computers are in charge, although, the pilots can take back the control on demand at any time.

Boeing has a very similar system on their Triple Seven.

 

[Falcon]

As a former USAF pilot, I was always concerned regarding any change in the feeling of the airplane. Gave it special attention
until we were safely on the ground again.

 

[oldman]

Exactly, Falcon. When a pilot is hand flying the plane, he is more alert to any changes that may be happening and not go unnoticed. The pilot can also feel the type of ride he’s getting. When hand flying the plane, the pilot just has a really good feel of the plane and what it’s doing.

The only bad feel that a pilot doesn’t want while hand flying the plane is if the “stick shaker” goes off. That will quickly get the pilot’s attention.

Falcon, I doubt if your plane had much of any type of technology back then, did it?

In today’s aviation world, planes have literally hundreds of sensors, multiple onboard computers, hydraulics that are operated by electronic servos and lots and lots of software. Even in the few years that I have been retired, so many changes have been made that I would need to go through a training program in a simulator before taking a plane up.

I totally respect you guys that flew during WWII. To be able to fly and drop bombs on targets thousands of feet below without a guidance system and hit the target deserves all the respect in the world.