[LINK] The Asiana SF accident

[Ivan Trundle]

On 11/07/2013, at 1:36 PM, Jan Whitaker <jwhit at janwhitaker.com> wrote:

>> Actually, this is a worldwide problem involving automation and the 
>> auto-flight concept. Take one of these new first officers that got 
>> his ratings in the US or Australia and came to KAL or Asiana with 
>> 225 flight hours. After takeoff, in accordance with their SOP, he 
>> calls for the autopilot to be engaged at 250' after takeoff. How 
>> much actual flight time is that? Hardly one minute.

And there is the nub of the problem, and it's not faced by pilots alone. 

If you consider how many people are involved in maintaining a complex system such as getting a plane into the air, going from A to B, then returning safely to the ground whilst dodging everything in the air and on the runway, and if you consider what steps are being taken to automate ALL of this, then you're in for a shock.

And if you think that this is a problem only experienced by countries such as South Korea, you're in for a bigger shock.

The world is rapidly heading towards automated system in complex environments, because we are at the limits of being able to humanly manage complex systems without applying a good deal of coordinated brain power.

This is not an argument against rote learning, or the freedom to challenge, or the historical mindset that we are supposed to occupy because of where we were born, but rather a deliberate process in which we are placing great reliance on machinery and automation to solve our problems. 

Only snag is that it's not a steady climb, but rather more of a pendulum of progress. Just don't get caught on the backswing...

iT