BebuLamar

Some people can't use a camera in manual mode but of course that is not a matter of life and death but some pilots can't fly the plane manually either. The case of the Asiana 777 crashed in San Francisco. Nice weather, plane in perfect condition. Just that the ILS wasn't available.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

ILS is a navigation air. It is not required for making a landing and many airports do not have it. Regardless of whether the ILS is working, the pilot is completely responsible for landing the plane safely.

In the example you cited, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the accident was caused by the flight crew's mismanagement of the airplane's final approach.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

According to this document, MCAS is activated with the autopilot off, so turning the autopilot off and flying manually does not disable MCAS. You can disable it for 5 sec with the thumb switches on the yoke, but if MCAS still “sees” a potential stall, it will activate again after 5sec. The only way to disable it permanently is to cut off BOTH stab trim cutout switches on the console. The lack of this information and the fact that this was never trained in a simulator (which is mandated now) is apparently why the pilots could not prevent the MCAS system from constantly applying up to 2.5 deg up elevator regardless of what the pilots did unless they knew how to deactivate it.

https://www.evionica.com/blog/blog/boeing-737-max-mcas.html#:~:text=The%20MCAS%20is%20autonomous%20and,provided%20the%20autopilot%20is%20disengaged.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Not unless this document is incorrect:
https://www.evionica.com/blog/blog/boeing-737-max-mcas.html#:~:text=The%20MCAS%20is%20autonomous%20and,provided%20the%20autopilot%20is%20disengaged.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Pilots falling asleep or becoming distracted using personal computing devices happens in the US as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Airlines_Flight_188

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

MCAS software causes an electric motor to move the horizontal stabilizer to a more nose downward configuration and do it a bit more quickly. It operates via the electric stabilizer trim system. One of the ways to shut it off is by flipping off the stabilizer trim switches on the center console. See picture below.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

Agree. I hope it does not occur with your son.

BebuLamar

Part of it is flight crew mismanagement where the other 2 pilots didn't dare to interfere with the pilot flying but also because the pilot flying having trouble landing without the ILS.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Agreed. I think one of the issues is that not being trained on the MCAS system (or maybe knowing of its existence), if the aircraft suddenly pitches nose down, especially at low altitude, a pilot may not have time to understand the cause and look though the emergency checklist on how to disable it. Remember that one advantage Boeing was selling when competing with the Airbus A320neo (especially at American Airlines) was that pilots familiar with the 737 type aircraft would not need retraining or simulator time when transitioning to the 737Max.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

No it did not.
I’m not going to argue with you. I know what all the expert’s views were that were outlined in the film where it made it very clear that this software thought the plane was doing something that it wasn’t and kept forcing the nose of the plane down until it crashed. Attempting to turn off cruise control and fly the plane manually could not be done. Two pilots did not have the strength to overcome this by pulling back on the control columns.
I far prefer to believe the information contained in the documentary film about what happened.

BebuLamar

I think the problem has to do with the way MCAS bringing the nose down. It does it by adjusting the horizontal stabilizer trim. When you disable it you also disable power trim and doing it manually is heavy and slow.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

Regardless of whether it’s airplanes, cars, auto steer on farm tractors or what have you, safety features such as antilock brakes on cars are a wonderful idea that actually works and has undoubtedly saved many lives. The problem with such great and dependable features is that people begin to rely on them totally.

Before antilock brakes, nearly everyone in snow and ice country knew to pump the brakes on slick roads, knew to steer into the turn when the back end was trying to pass up the front end and knew that a locked up wheel gives you absolutely no control of a car on icy roads. You see it on internet videos of one vehicle after another sliding down an icy street and crashing into another car. Also notice that all four wheels are always locked up. If they would let up on the brakes and let the wheels actually rotate, many of those people could steer around the stationary cars. Yes they might run into a curb or streetlight farther down the hill, but with all four wheels locked up the cars spin around end for end and the driver has absolutely no control whatsoever.

And I bet very few young folks know any of those braking tricks because they have always driven with antilock brakes. And yes, antilock brakes disengage below a certain speed like 10 mph, otherwise you could never stop your car. I bet that us old timers could miss some of those cars we see on those videos because we still remember how to drive on slick roads.

The really cool systems that automatically apply the brakes when you get too close to the car ahead are only going to result in drivers that know absolutely nothing about speed, distance, road conditions and how far you can see.

I could see some new pilots being complacent or not knowing how to fly the plane manually. The smarter and safer we make our cars, the less our drivers know about driving safely.

pnbarne

In the 80s I worked with an engineering cooperative program which included Boeing. Board meeting locations rotated among the companies. Meetings at Boeing were like stepping back in time. The board room was dark paneled wood. Everything was choreographed, precisely scheduled and had a binder for each step on the agenda. If it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen. This was the old Boeing, everything was meticulously done and scrupulously documented. That all changed when the Powers That Be decided money mattered more than engineering.

Littledab Loc: Wyoming

Allow them to go to Mexico, cross the border at any place other than a check point, present a knew identity, request air fair to their city of choice and they can start a new career.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

Absolutely not. Pilots are tested and double tested on an incredibly regular basis to confirm their manual skills reach the highest standards of proficiency.