Originally Posted by
DaBest
Pleeeeasssse! When was the last time anybody lost a B737 over the ocean due to engine or system failure? So far they can't find B777. Most recent accidents are human factors not mechanical breakdowns. Pilots are on the verge of obsolesce. Enjoy what you have before automation and technology engineer you out of the flight deck.
You want to talk about safety; how safe is it to have pilots on heavy for 20 years as RIO and do few landings in the sim every 3 months; is that safe? Or putting 500 hours C172 pilot on the right seat of RJs with newly upgraded CA with 1500 h. and let them go into central America at night in thunderstorms and no radar, is that safe? What about 3 or 4 pilots that weight over 300lbs and don't exercise with medical limitations and bag full of meds at the controls of B777 or B747 with 300 pax, is that safe?
There many factors that affect your life everyday, we mitigate many of them by technology and training; in case of pilots, technology has taken over and pilots no longer are able to do basic straight and level flight with out autopilot; new hires are afraid to make a short approach in VMC without ILS or guidance. You want safety; dig a whole or fined a cave and hide.
The reason is that modern aircraft have double and triple redundancy. If a pilot is about to fly across the North Atlantic and given a choice of the plane with Satcom, a Rat, Standby Nav, and an operable APU, or one without, I'll guarantee he'll refuse the latter every time. If you start reducing redundancy via the MEL, the margin of safety is reduced as well. Pilots will always be needed when those systems are degraded in flight while operating in a dynamic arena.
You are confusing those who don't hand fly with technological advances in safety. The first is a matter of culture. The second is a result of the system built around us. New hires and those in transition naturally don't hand fly that much as they are still acquiring a certain level of comfort. That comes with time and the system they find themselves operating in. Some airlines hand fly more than others. Some require certain levels of automation while others leave it to the discretion of the pilot. The aviation system is built and stretched to such a level that certain systems are essentially required. Technology has taken over to allow such a aviation system. Yes Orville and Wilbur didn't have TCAS and Satcom, but they weren't avoiding V tail doctor killers in saturated airspace with inexperienced controllers or flying vast distances over oceans.