USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
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USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
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Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#2The Navy's investigation found that both collisions were avoidable accidents. And in the case of the USS McCain, the accident was in part caused by an error made in switching which control console on the ship's bridge had steering control
So, basically this was a reprise of the AF 447 crash at sea, where lack of clear command authority combined with a maddeningly poorly-thought-out UI resulted in a serious accident with loss of life.
At least they didn't have genuine malfunctioning hardware on top of everything else, the way the Air France crew did. They just thought they had a malfunction.
Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#3Amazing that someone would design in multiple steering wheels, only one of which is active, and no big indicator to make it super-obvious which one it is.
Also amazing that there's a mode where moving a control sometimes controls all engines, sometimes just one.
Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#4Amazing that someone would design in multiple steering wheels, only one of which is active, and no big indicator to make it super-obvious which one it is. Also amazing that there's a mode where moving a control sometimes controls all engines, sometimes just one.
Check out the recent O'Reilly book Tragic Design for more situations exactly like this.
Poor UI design is remarkably common, even on controls that are essential for safe operations.
Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#5Amazing that someone would design in multiple steering wheels, only one of which is active, and no big indicator to make it super-obvious which one it is. Also amazing that there's a mode where moving a control sometimes controls all engines, sometimes just one.
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Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#6The Navy's investigation found that both collisions were avoidable accidents. And in the case of the USS McCain, the accident was in part caused by an error made in switching which control console on the ship's bridge had steering control So, basically this was a reprise of the AF 447 crash at sea, where lack of clear command authority combined with a maddeningly poorly-thought-out UI resulted in a serious accident w…
>So, basically this was a reprise of the AF 447 crash at sea, where lack of clear command authority combined with a maddeningly poorly-thought-out UI resulted in a serious accident with loss of life.
I don't want to take this off on a tangent, but this theory of the AF 447 crash keeps getting repeated online despite the fact that the accident report did not conclude that the UI was a factor.
If it's got to the point where the pilots have lost track of who's flying the plane, are ignoring the (audible) "dual control" warning, and are making conflicting control inputs, the plane is probably going to crash anyway. Linking the sticks physically has potential safety downsides in addition to safety upsides (e.g. in the case where one stick gets stuck, or a incapacitated pilot holds it in a particular position).
See e.g. here for further info on sidesticks and safety:
https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/14027/sidestick...
Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#7Sometimes having too much money is worse than not having enough. With a tighter budget, you have to wonder if such an extravagantly over functional interface would be created.
Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#8UI flaws have hit the Navy before, with even worse consequences [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vincennes_(CG-49)#Iran_Air...
Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#9Amazing that someone would design in multiple steering wheels, only one of which is active, and no big indicator to make it super-obvious which one it is. Also amazing that there's a mode where moving a control sometimes controls all engines, sometimes just one.
Having differential engine control isn't too surprising - it's just another way to maintain a course in addition to the rudder.
Jetliners have gangable throttle controls for their engines, albeit with what is probably a much better interface.
Re: USS McCain collision ultimately caused by UI confusion
#10The Navy's investigation found that both collisions were avoidable accidents. And in the case of the USS McCain, the accident was in part caused by an error made in switching which control console on the ship's bridge had steering control So, basically this was a reprise of the AF 447 crash at sea, where lack of clear command authority combined with a maddeningly poorly-thought-out UI resulted in a serious accident w…
>So, basically this was a reprise of the AF 447 crash at sea, where lack of clear command authority combined with a maddeningly poorly-thought-out UI resulted in a serious accident with loss of life. I don't want to take this off on a tangent, but this theory of the AF 447 crash keeps getting repeated online despite the fact that the accident report did not conclude that the UI was a factor. If it's got to the point…
Hearing (one of many) alarms is one thing.
Feeling the control wheel or stick fighting you is far more direct.
AF 447 was absolutely a UX failure.