whoop whoop Wake Up
I know it's an Airbus but I can see this happening in the not so distant future.
Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
31–40 of 125 posts
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unlike trains, there isn't one action that is basically always safe (stop the train). A dead man switch activating at the wrong time, could itself cause an accident.
Each pilot can have a button they must always press, if both are released loud tritones alarms and flashing will fill the cockpit, something no one can sleep to.
Sorry but this a bit ill-informed.
First off, you cannot just put an alarm on everything. The sonic experience inside a cockpit is very carefully designed to give pilots the correct information at the correct time. False alarms are not only not appreciated, they are actively dangerous. If a flight experiencing an emergency situation, a blaring alarm that is incorrectly going off can prevent pilots from getting timely information.
Airbus have side-sticks (like a game controller), not yokes and you really shouldn’t be inputting on them unless you’re hand flying for whatever reason.
In all two-pilot aircraft (all commercial jet aircraft), there are two separate roles that each one assumes: Pilot Monitoring (PM) and Pilot Flying (PF). The PM’s job is usually to run checklists, communicate/operate the radio, check various indicators, and support the PF to fly the aircraft. The captain and first officer swap between these roles en route. The PM should NOT be inputting controls unless there is a good reason to do so, but for safety/redundancy, one side’s controls are never disabled unless a lockout/override is active.
Most airlines have a policy to cruise with the autopilot on, which keeps the aircraft on its plotted course at it’s cleared altitude. The time where “flying” comes into play most often is during takeoff and using various levels of ILS from just indications of glide slope to a full autoland.
While not fantastic, a cruising airbus will keep its current course and stay airborne if the pilots snooze off.
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#33Can someone explain to me why we still need pilots? Could we at least have pilots serve as a backup to a fully autonomous system?
You propose replacing pilots with … pilots?
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#34Can someone explain to me why we still need pilots? Could we at least have pilots serve as a backup to a fully autonomous system?
IANAP. I think a lot people enjoy flying airplanes. I think most landings are manual. Thus pilots highly skilled to land safely also in difficult situations. And instruments can fail.
What do you hope for with removing humans in the loop?
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unlike trains, there isn't one action that is basically always safe (stop the train). A dead man switch activating at the wrong time, could itself cause an accident.
That’s true, but there are plenty of other options. For example, a dead-man switch could: Send an alert via transponders that it has been activated. Maintain level flight but avoid terrain. (After a waiting period in which a pilot can deactivate this feature.) Or descend to a safe altitude if cabin pressure is lost. Activate a mode in which the plane could be remotely flown or directed to land itself. Alert flight cr…
>That’s true, but there are plenty of other options.
Well we can't settle it in the comments, nor should we. So which of those options can successfully survive a detailed engineering review on its merits?
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#36Can someone explain to me why we still need pilots? Could we at least have pilots serve as a backup to a fully autonomous system?
This is such an “armchair expert” take on this.
Planes are not fully autonomous. They will not be for a very long time due to the regulatory environment aviation is entrenched in.
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unlike trains, there isn't one action that is basically always safe (stop the train). A dead man switch activating at the wrong time, could itself cause an accident.
Each pilot can have a button they must always press, if both are released loud tritones alarms and flashing will fill the cockpit, something no one can sleep to.
That doesn't work at all. There are often times like takeoff, landing, dealing with adverse weather events, re-routing, mechanical failure, etc where they're going through a detailed checklist. The last thing you want is some random device that takes attention away from them dealing with a serious problem.
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#38Can someone explain to me why we still need pilots? Could we at least have pilots serve as a backup to a fully autonomous system?
Even if unassisted takeoff and landing were possible, no airline is going to accept the risk of operating such a system.
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#39Can someone explain to me why we still need pilots? Could we at least have pilots serve as a backup to a fully autonomous system?
Because the people who own those planes, and people who regulate the airline industry don't want human casualties under their watch - a fairly reasonable concern.
Status-quo is not something you typically argue for, its what you need to argue against. At which point you need to make a positive argument with data that can convince them otherwise.
Re: Both pilots of an A320 fell asleep in the cockpit for 28 minutes
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Each pilot can have a button they must always press, if both are released loud tritones alarms and flashing will fill the cockpit, something no one can sleep to.
Sorry but this a bit ill-informed. First off, you cannot just put an alarm on everything. The sonic experience inside a cockpit is very carefully designed to give pilots the correct information at the correct time. False alarms are not only not appreciated, they are actively dangerous. If a flight experiencing an emergency situation, a blaring alarm that is incorrectly going off can prevent pilots from getting timely…
Charlie Victor Romeo was a very interesting watch for that cockpit fly-on-a-wall experience