The real issue is why the pilots couldn’t over ride the computer. That should be a hard disconnect and not dependent on code.
The real issue is why the pilots couldn’t over ride the computer. That should be a hard disconnect and not dependent on code.
********************************************************
And that is absolutely true! And the lack of training is why. So, because the pilot didn’t/couldn’t disconnect the MCAS box the programming in the box put/kept the plane in a severely nose down attitude.
>> The real issue is why the pilots couldn’t over ride the computer
Because the aircraft industry is so hot to sell aircraft to, ah, er - “underdeveloped nations” and their aviators that they have relied on computers and machines rather than to train the aviators.
If trained, the system was easily overrideable with the two switches labeled “Stab Trim Cutout”. They are located on the aircraft’s center pedestal, just to the right and slightly below of the throttles.
It seems as if the pilots didn’t even know this automatic system existed prior to the crashes. Good videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfQW0upkVus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3LrsvaCUoo
(In the second video, the presenter mis-speaks a bit, but it’s still great info.)
I heard by the grapevine that Southwest, which have a number of these planes, have their pilots so well trained that THEY discovered the new anti-stall, became familiar with it, and have never had a problem with porpoising on climb-out. And if there’s ever the least question, the pilot TURNS IT OFF and flies the plane himself.
-----------------
These are the “Stab trim cutout switches” that Media is referring to everywhere.
They form part of the “Runaway stabilizer” memory items that will stop most unwanted movements of the stabilizer, including the mentioned MCAS system.
All of us B737 pilots practice using them. pic.twitter.com/P1mc8KIWog— Mentour Pilot (@MenTourPilot) March 11, 2019
It’s not a matter of if pilots can override the stab trim or not, they can. It’s an issue of can they catch it in a timely manner before it creates a situation that’s hard to recover from. Something like this is more likely to cause a problem at 200’ on takeoff than if it happens at 30000’ in cruise flight.
I’m an airline pilot and it bristles me a bit with everyone saying “just train the pilots better”. The pilots are already trained to handle things like this, but just like playing football even if you’re properly trained sometimes you don’t do everything exactly right and you drop the pass. This is a situation where the pilots handling it right 99% of the time isn’t good enough, it’s got to be 100% and as humans we never get things 100%. How about instead of just screaming for better pilot training we fix the airplane so it doesn’t do this?
The best approach is to pull out a shotgun and shoot the flight computer when it tries to kill you. But, they won't let the pilots carry shotguns.