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First question - how do we tie this to Boeing? (A joke, of course) Second, interesting to note planes don’t have deadman switches.
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.
Can someone explain to me why we still need pilots? Could we at least have pilots serve as a backup to a fully autonomous system?
It’s actually harder to do nothing and just watch things, it’s its own special kind of fatigue. I wouldn’t be surprised if this doesn’t happen more often.
Not familiar with any of this - I'm guessing it's ok for one pilot to be asleep as long as there's another active one?
Not familiar with any of this - I'm guessing it's ok for one pilot to be asleep as long as there's another active one?
Both asleep, though, is a big problem. About ten years ago there was a (Delta?) flight to Vegas (?) with both pilots asleep. They flew past their destination and went on their merry way until a flight attendant check up on them.
First question - how do we tie this to Boeing? (A joke, of course) Second, interesting to note planes don’t have deadman switches.
Seems like they could address this by just changing procedures.
If one pilot wants to take a nap, require a third crew member to come sit in the cockpit and make sure the other pilot doesn't doze off. When two pilots are awake, they can monitor each other, but if one is (intentionally) asleep, they can't do that, so have someone take over that function.
Earlier 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…