12-05-2015, 09:21 PM
Well done P2 and well done Ben, some interesting discussions taking place. Great to see.
"There have now been 18 loss of control accidents since the year 2000, and 1,886 people have died in them because the pilots failed to maintain control of aeroplanes that were completely flyable, and most of which had nothing wrong with them".
A sobering and concerning trend. It's an interesting yet disturbing set of statistics. But lets take a step back over the last 4 decades to see at what other times in any aviation history we have had a legacy of frustrating accidents;
1. We had CFIT in the 70's. One strong form of mitigation was the invention of GPWS. Many future lives have been saved. Commercial airliners were consistently being flown into high terrain or the ground. Often for no valid, logical reason at all. Thank god for GPWS.
2. TCAS - another superb piece of kit which really became mandatory in the 80's. Many many accidents have been avoided as a result due to the invention of TCAS. Prior to TCAS midair accidents were all too common.
3. CRM - remember the old days where the authority gradient between Captain and F/O was large, leaving an atmosphere on the flight deck that was at times palpable? The late 90's, but especially 2000 onward has seen a huge change. Anyone remember long haul flights where the only word shared between the left and right hand seat were 'I'm going for a piss or a sleep' or the verbal completion of checklists!! Not so bad today, and better communication has created a more effective team, less misunderstandings on the flight deck and better communication with people beyond the flight deck door.
But, 2000 onward has seen the ramping up of 'avoidable accidents'. The age of computer and fly by wire technology. A joystick from which you cannot feel the aircrafts idiosyncrasies, where you need to have less aeronautical skills and have greater software/techo type skills to fly a plane. The question really must be asked; has the aircraft technology really outsmarted human ability? Tough question which undoubtedly can cause much debate.
But the facts remain - there has been too many aircraft crashes where the aircraft was modern, high tech and on many occasions perfectly serviceable, yet utter chaos and confusion had broken out on the flight deck leading to the machine being crashed with an ensuing high number of fatalities, and leaving the experts with dumbfounded looks on their faces and scratching their heads.
So perhaps it is time that ICAO, the supposed guardian and promulgator of all things safety got off its arse and tried to work out that the hell is going wrong?
Because people, there is a problem and it isn't going away any time soon.
P_666
"There have now been 18 loss of control accidents since the year 2000, and 1,886 people have died in them because the pilots failed to maintain control of aeroplanes that were completely flyable, and most of which had nothing wrong with them".
A sobering and concerning trend. It's an interesting yet disturbing set of statistics. But lets take a step back over the last 4 decades to see at what other times in any aviation history we have had a legacy of frustrating accidents;
1. We had CFIT in the 70's. One strong form of mitigation was the invention of GPWS. Many future lives have been saved. Commercial airliners were consistently being flown into high terrain or the ground. Often for no valid, logical reason at all. Thank god for GPWS.
2. TCAS - another superb piece of kit which really became mandatory in the 80's. Many many accidents have been avoided as a result due to the invention of TCAS. Prior to TCAS midair accidents were all too common.
3. CRM - remember the old days where the authority gradient between Captain and F/O was large, leaving an atmosphere on the flight deck that was at times palpable? The late 90's, but especially 2000 onward has seen a huge change. Anyone remember long haul flights where the only word shared between the left and right hand seat were 'I'm going for a piss or a sleep' or the verbal completion of checklists!! Not so bad today, and better communication has created a more effective team, less misunderstandings on the flight deck and better communication with people beyond the flight deck door.
But, 2000 onward has seen the ramping up of 'avoidable accidents'. The age of computer and fly by wire technology. A joystick from which you cannot feel the aircrafts idiosyncrasies, where you need to have less aeronautical skills and have greater software/techo type skills to fly a plane. The question really must be asked; has the aircraft technology really outsmarted human ability? Tough question which undoubtedly can cause much debate.
But the facts remain - there has been too many aircraft crashes where the aircraft was modern, high tech and on many occasions perfectly serviceable, yet utter chaos and confusion had broken out on the flight deck leading to the machine being crashed with an ensuing high number of fatalities, and leaving the experts with dumbfounded looks on their faces and scratching their heads.
So perhaps it is time that ICAO, the supposed guardian and promulgator of all things safety got off its arse and tried to work out that the hell is going wrong?
Because people, there is a problem and it isn't going away any time soon.
P_666