Pilots Rely Too Much on Automation

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Pilots Rely Too Much on Automation Turbulence, lighting, stalls—these are all things that a pilot must deal with. However, some pilots deal with these problems too slowly due to a reliance on automation. If pilots do not react quickly, the plane may crash. From Switzerland to New York, pilots struggle with too much reliance on automation. This may cause many lives to be endangered. Many commercial airline pilots endanger passengers from many different nationalities. Even if the passengers reach their destination safely, they might not know that their pilot may lack basic flying skills. One pilot reported touching the controls only seven times during a flight. If pilots only touch the controls around seven times each flight, they don’t gain much experience with actually using the controls in case autopilot fails. 66% of pilots have these problems. In the past, pilots had to react quickly to life-threatening situations without the help of automation. Nowadays, pilots’ basic flying skills are deteriorating due to the over dependence on automation. The most effective way to help pilots refine their skills is a flight simulator. The Federal Aviation Administration has already tried using the flight simulators and has produced promising results. However, the reason why most companies don’t use these simulators is because of the immense cost. Even if the cost is large, it does not amount to the price of lives lost. Pilots Are Overusing Autopilot In the 1930s, autopilot was first placed in the cockpit of a plane. It aided pilots during WWII. The technology wasn’t that great, so pilots still struggled to fly the plane. Pilots encountered many life threatening situations in which they had to take control of the plane. Advances in tec... ... middle of paper ... ...depending on how realistic conditions can be generated. Another issue is pilots’ schedules. Between home, work, and personal duties, pilots have scarce free time. Incorporating simulator training in their busy schedules may cause even more fatigue. One simple solution is to have pilots who are inexperienced with flying a plane manually have a training session once a week with an experienced pilot to gradually improve with each lesson. As for the cost, nothing can amount to the number of lives lost in a plane crash due to delayed and improper reactions. Every 2 in 3 pilots suffer from an overreliance on automaton. Using flight simulators can help deal with that problem without the risk of crashing a real plane. A flight simulator does cost a bit of money, but costs less than a commercial airplane. In the end, it comes down to being proactive rather than reactive.

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