Author of The New York Times bestseller, The Crash Detectives, I am also a journalist, public speaker and broadcaster specializing in aviation and travel.
Airbus A380 weighs man and machine on the scale of fallability
December 6, 2010 / 3 Comments
Categories: Flying Lessons, Uncategorized
Tags: air safety, aviation, Travel
3 responses to “Airbus A380 weighs man and machine on the scale of fallability”
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Boeing may soon be at the defendant's table in federal court.
I know there's a lot going on in the news but why is this not being reported everywhere?
An air disaster creates a peculiar world populated by heroes, victims, villains and survivors. #MH370
About Christine
I am a journalist, a published author, speaker and broadcaster specializing in aviation and travel. Learn more…
Very true Christine. Its always the man (or woman) behind the machine that counts. Any organisations best resources are its Human employees, and the best safety device ever invented is a well trained pilot! And this flight has just gone and proved the point all over again.
Thats why we focus on Crew Resource Management and Aeronautical decision making as a very high priority item in our Pilot Training Curriculum.
Can you imagine what would have happened to the Qantas flight if the usual 2-person cockpit crew was present? We can all thank the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for their decision back in 1982 to relegate the number of cockpit crew members required in a commercial jetliner to a committee comprised of political hacks. The outcome was predictable when they said ALL new jets could be safely flown with 2 pilots in the cockpit. The third person present in the Qantas cockpit was no doubt an International Reserve Officer (IRO) that is required only on flights of more than a certain duration.
The term "flight safety is the highest priority" is a joke perpetrated by the FAA on a gullible flying public, taking a backseat to the monetary considerations of the airlines.
Just like the extended over water twin engine flights that are now allowed, the 2-person cockpit is a disaster just waiting to happen.
As a veteran Captain (23.600hrs), Check Airman and Instructor on all Airbus types (exept the A380)as well as Boeing I see an important requirement to design intelligent SW of flight warning computers in case multiple failures with the same priority (eg. red level warnings)at the same time coming up. I have seen ECAM red level warnings coming and going allmost simultanously depending in the pyramide of failures. ECAM handling is heavily effected when dealing with intermittent ECAM messages which per se have the highest priority.
This issue is not a question of crew complement.