Author: Dave English

In the news today, living and dying

By Dave English

Two big news stories today. One sad one happy. Both involve unique planes and expert pilots that I’ve flown with a few times. The sad one first: Man Killed in Plane Crash at Covington Airport was Avid Pilot I flew with Lance Hooley several times in the A320, about 14 years ago, when I was a first officer at the airline we both work at. Worked at I should say, in Lance’s case. That’s hard to write. He was an engaging intelligent pilot. Talked with him last just a few months ago, on a jetbridge taking a jet he had flown in. Yesterday he … Continue reading In the news today, living and dying

Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think

By Dave English

Thirty-five years ago a paper was presented at a conference, titled Ironies of Automation, by Lisanne Bainbridge. It included many insightful ideas: The designer’s view of the human operator may be that the operator is unreliable and inefficient… so should be eliminated from the system. There are two ironies of this attitude. One is that designer errors can be a major source of operating problems… The second irony is that the designer who tries to eliminate the operator still leaves the operator to do the tasks which the designer cannot think how to automate…it means that the operator can be … Continue reading Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think

With the automagic off, are you confident?

By Dave English

With autopilot, autothrottles, flight directors, GPS off — are you practised enough?  Really ready?  Comfortable? Many experts aren’t sure we are. The accident data is worrying. One test-pilot and astronaut with 60-years of flying experience has spoken out about the adverse side effects of automation. He’s noted that Apollo astronauts practised every procedure with and without automation. “We felt comfortable in our spacecraft, capable of flying them when the automatics failed and confident of returning home. This preparation paid dividends for Apollo 13.” “Pilots must be confident operating automated aircraft and capable to defer to their hands-on flying skills” Jim Lovell … Continue reading With the automagic off, are you confident?