Re:How the pilots of Lion Air Flight 610 lost control
by sokoloff on Thursday December 27, 2018 @08:38AM
(#18769341)
The NTSB seems to take the overall view that automation in airliners is generally reliable, though balances that with the view that pilots must be prepared to take over for unanticipated circumstances (United 1549).
https://www.ntsb.gov/news/speeches/CHart/Documents/hart-2018...
Small nit: V1 is the takeoff decision speed, not the maximum abort speed. If the decision is made to abort right at V1, the airplane will continue to accelerate for a second or so while the crew implements the first action to effect the abort/RTO.
But most often what's needed is smarter machines, not less of them.
Inadequate engine performance during take off is a periodic cause of problems. Research was done into whether airports could add markers so that pilots could tell if their acceleration was less than expected. That went nowhere because humans don't have an accurate sense of acceleration or time passing. Today new Airbus jets integrate their position over time and will warn audibly "Check acceleration" if underperforming, long before V1 (maximum abort speed). Meanwhile a common underlying cause of inadequate performance is entering incorrect air temperature, modern Boeings will delete input temperatures that don't resemble the measured temperature at an air intake when the engines switch on. Pilots must enter a plausible temperature and try again, or perform a fully manual take off. So investigators now might recommend one or both of these countermeasures be adopted, or that the research be done again knowing these options exist.