Re:SFO near miss might have triggered aviation disaster
by cyberferret on Tuesday July 11, 2017 @02:09AM
(#14741934)
Ironically, it is mainly because of reliability. Every system on an aircraft HAS to have double or triple redundancy by law, and a lot of these systems ARE antiquated by usual consumer standards.
A lot of pilots these days have iPads in the cockpit to assist with this, but in nearly all airlines and aircraft types, these are unauthorised devices that are not part of the certification. Generally they are used for non critical things like manuals or checklists, but I know of pilots that use them for situational awareness as well. In an accident though, this may work against them, badly.
Yes, it is the old legal and liability issue. Aircraft systems should be upgraded, but the cost of upgrading an entire fleet is prohibitive for most airlines that are already operating on the smell of an oily rag. New generation aircraft are getting better at it though. Like I mentioned before, I believe the 787 now has a HUD of sorts, which is long overdue.
A lot of pilots these days have iPads in the cockpit to assist with this, but in nearly all airlines and aircraft types, these are unauthorised devices that are not part of the certification. Generally they are used for non critical things like manuals or checklists, but I know of pilots that use them for situational awareness as well. In an accident though, this may work against them, badly.
Yes, it is the old legal and liability issue. Aircraft systems should be upgraded, but the cost of upgrading an entire fleet is prohibitive for most airlines that are already operating on the smell of an oily rag. New generation aircraft are getting better at it though. Like I mentioned before, I believe the 787 now has a HUD of sorts, which is long overdue.