[wjr123]

I would never question the hands on experience of professional pilots but, perhaps, a comment upon the systems physics and the design choices of Airbus and Boeing is appropriate.

Airbus fly-by-wire design is computer centric. The aircraft computer sets a flight envelope beyond which the pilot cannot go without significant effort. Worse, Airbus designs are dead stick designs which yield no stick feedback to the pilot.

Boeing, on the other hand, uses a pilot centric design. If the pilot requires a certain out of envelope maneuver then the computer is overridden immediately. Their cockpit design tries to emulate the physical feedback (proprioception) of traditional cockpits.

The implication of these choices is profound. The dead stick A300 accident was simply due to no proprioceptic feedback to the pilot from flipping the stick back and forth (trying to compensate for wake turbulence) eventually ripping off the vertical stabilizer.

From a control systems point of view the Airbus choice was poor. Add this to the over reliance upon automation generally and, specifically, to European Airbus training and you shift the probability of error negatively.

The Air France accident likely occurred due to very poor ergonomics in the cockpit and the fact that a computer reboot or override took too long once an error was detected.

These data are somewhat old (several years) so engineering changes may have been made since the Air France accident. However, I try to avoid Airbus equipment when the flight service station indicates any weather issue.

[Tzfat]

It is a myth that Airbus are computer centric and Boeings are pilot centric. The fact is, the Boeing B787 is currently the most high tech airliner flying. Fly by wire. And no, a pilot on an Airbus CAN MOST CERTAINLY override the design limits imposed by the computers (Boeings have flight computers as well). Airbus makes NORMAL operation to remain within limits, but override is possible, and we train pilots to know how.

As for ergonomics causing AF447, that is ridiculous. It was caused by a barometric system failure not a computer failure. It was caused by almost the same set of events that caused a North Eastern B727 to crash 40 years ago.

Your basic premise is outdated, and easily proven to be false. Modern US fighters follow the same “ergonomic” patterns you mistakenly think are Airbus’ idea. If the “pilot centric” myth you think exists at Boeing, why is the configuration and operation of the B787 essentially the same as an Airbus A350XWB from a pilot’s perspective? Why did Boeing abandon all those “great ideas” they had in cockpit design found in the B676?

[Tzfat]

The American Airlines A300 crash was not caused by the pilot “flipping the stick back and forth.” It was caused by his feet on the RUDDERS (not fly by wire) moving them with the aggressive movements taught to FIGHTER pilots. The forces applied to the rudder would have ripped the tail off most FAR Part 25 airliners.

Bad training, and most certainly not automation, or aircraft design caused that crash. And just so you know: the aggressive rudder hard over actions he learned from U.S. military training concepts.

But if you had read the NTSB findings you would know that.

[zipper]

wjr123, you were right in saying cockpit ergonomics contributed to the AF447 disaster.

The "sidestick" design is inferior ergonomically, compared to a "traditional" Boeing cockpit.

Case in point:

CBS News interviewed Capt. Chesley Sullenberger (the world's most famous A320 pilot). Here is what they asked him, and the answer:

Q: Would Air France 447 have had the same disaster if this cockpit were a Boeing instead of an Airbus?

A: I think it would have been much less likely to happen to the Boeing, because the control wheels are large, they're obvious, I think it could hardly have been missed."

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See the CBS video clip for yourself. Follow the link, it's the last video down the page, about 7:04 in length. The Chesley Sullenberger interview (partly conducted in an Airbus simulator). This criticism of the Airbus design is coming from an "Airbus guy" who happens to be the most famous A320 pilot in the USA, and probably the world (Q8501 was also an A320)!

http://www.docmercury.com/gallery/flight-447

Also covered here, without the video:

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/airbus-flights-crash-much-less-likely-happen-boein/nPm99/

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Airbus still has a sidestick in its most modern cockpit: the A350 (to be fair the design dates before AF447, though they still defend the sidestick design).

Compare it to the newly designed Boeing 787, a "traditional cockpit" yoke airplane: