Originally Posted by
DeadHead
Human Progress has always been littered with people who become so entangled with whether they CAN do something while not stoping to think about whether they SHOULD do something.
Perhaps the technology does exist to make a "meatsack" in the cockpit a thing of the past, but is it cost effective, safer, and more reliable? Maybe one day it will be, maybe one day it won't.
So today we'll replace airline pilots, tomorrow we'll replace architects, and the day after that we'll replace surgeons. Let's continue to allow our technology to replace and improve on human ability so that one day there will no longer be the need for careered professionals. Schools and colleges will be a thing of the past since our technological advancements will take care of all our desires and needs.
I'm speaking out of sarcastic context to illustrate my point, machines will NEVER be able to make decisions. Whether your flying a DC-3 with a crew of 4 in 1950, or setting off on a Trans-Atlantic Europe flight in a state-of-the-art B-777, the skills of prudent judgment, decision making, and comprehensive planning are all human abilities.
Humans have their place however as time goes on technology takes over more and more of what the pilots use to do. As a result the airlines have gotten safer. The more we take the pilot out of the equation the safer we get.
Pilots even are becoming like computers. Standardization, memorized flows and procedures have turned pilots into organic computers. We are trained to regurgitate reactions and to follow checklists. Mindlessly we go through the same rote memorized routine over and over again. If something goes wrong there is a different set of procedures or decision trees to follow. If they run of the script then call maintenance control, ATC or dispatch.
The human is still in there but as time goes by the
pilot is getting minimized. The people who are really making the decisions are the ones who are writing the procedures, designing checklists and eventually will be the ones making the in flight decisions from a command center on the ground.
Skyhigh