Stupid question for commercial pilots

with moder guidance computers the pilots don't even land the AC when in some IMC conditions. all the person would need to know how to do is talk on the radio and fallow instructions.

 

Like Meister said, most of the time while the airplane is en route it is on auto-pilot.

I am told that in theory a commercial aircraft can fly the entire leg from take off to landing without human intervention./ Of course this would be under ideal conditions.

In your scenario the "talk down" would probably be required for entry into the pattern and set-up for final, after that it's all automatic..

 

I have to take a look at this from the view point of some one like my brother or wife.
1. How would they know how to contact some one one the ground? They could yell into the mike all day and not get a response and maybe they would.
2. A non- pilot would be absolutely lost unless they were in contact with some one who could tell them where the " Automatic buttons are." What frequency would be dialed in on the com when they had to take control?
3. Are all airplanes Cat 3 yet?
4.I believe that I'm not up to speed on all this but I also believe that it would be highly impropable that an person totally unfamilure with an airplane could land one.

 

The auto pilot on a commercial flight, isn't one like you may find on a small plane which just keeps the ONE heading and Wings Level.

They are sophisticated computers with direct inputs from GPS, VOR's and other sources.
Before takeoff the Pilot selects the course path, (ie. the navigation fixes) headings, and flight levels, just like you would if flying in IFR/IMC. But instead of just writing them on a form, they are fed into the planes AutoPilot.

The AutoPilot.... can then follow the course, make course and altitude changes, intercept up a fix, and head off on a new course heading,
all automatically.

Some 747's I'm told, can fly right to touchdown, without intervention by human hands.

As for someone playing on a flt sim... IMHO,
Makes for a nice movie drama, but....

It's highly doubtful they would even know which way was up.
1) they'd be jammed into an EXTREMELY stressful situation.
2) Would definitely be thrust into UNFAMILIAR surroundings
3) be OVERWHELMED, with the responsibility for their own and a few hundred other peoples lives.
4) IN THIS SOCIETY, Have thoughts of being sued for whatever happens,
and
5) be UNABLE to cope with the extreme stress of flight, under stated conditions. Remember ..... "I M S A F E" ??

They wouldn't know about spatial disorientation, or how to correct for unusual attitudes, or inadvertent stall, let alone be able to recognize one, or recover from an upside down death spiral into terrain.
(once they took control from the A/P, if they could figure out how to turn it off in the first place......)

Now what's the proper cruise airspeed for (say) a 727? At what airspeed does it stall? What's the glide ratio? What's best rate of descent? How long will the available fuel last? What does the stall warning sound like? where's the landing lights, ... Turn signal, windshield wiper, Comm radios, Compass, landing gear switch??? What's the cross wind factor? Which runway to use? How fast to land and not run off the end.. or lose lift.

REMEMBER NOW YOU'RE UNDER EXTREME STRESS, SO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AS FAST AS YOU CAN.... WHILE DIVING TOWARDS THE GROUND AT 450 KNOTS....

( The average non Instr. private pilot, has a statistical lifespan of less than three minutes when flying into IMC.. (as per the NTSB)



UH HUH!!! YEP! Ms Flight sim teaches ya all of this stuff.....
rite here on your 'lil PC! Sure they do!


( With a maniacal laugh he slithers into Virtual reality,

where if ya screw up... ya get a do-over!)

HAHAHAHA hahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahaHAHAHAHAHA!

 

Yeah, what HE said.....................

 

I say if the air craft has catIII capabilities then its totally possible, if thy know how to use the mic and get directions.

 

Pure Fantasy - Does anyone have an example of such a thing in the entire history of the airlines?

I didn't think so - the movie "Airplane" doesn't count - sorry.

 

If they have been spending a lot of time on MS Flight Sim, sure, I would think so.

After all, if they've spent hours playing MS Flight Sim, they're going to have some familiarity with gear handles, radios, and basic autopilot functions. We're not talking about someone who has never seen an aircraft cockpit or something-- then they might be toast.

 

Your question is a good one, because there are plenty of passengers that make the leap of faith and put their lives in the hands of pilots....and one of their worst anxieties is triggered by loss of control over the security of their life (some vestigial lizard-brain function).

Your question was in the context of a multi-crew aircraft. The scenario is unlikely, but here goes anyway.

A previous post mentions that once the aircraft is airborne, it can be fully automatic all the way to touchdown. This is correct within limits, because the airplane still only does what is commanded (pilot inputs) by the autopilot. In autoland equipped aircraft, the Flight Management System requires pilot input, and is seldom (if ever) programmed to the runway threshhold. This usually happens when cleared for an approach, and the pilot "cleans up any route discontinuities and commands the autopilot to intercept. Even then, the autopilot has to be configured to accept the autoland in order to arm autoland systems and features...otherwise, the autopilot will simply drive the aircraft into the ground at a dangerously high rate of decent and speed. If it is set up correctly, you will get a smooth but firm touchdown on the correct runway, runway alignment during the rollout, and automatic braking. Be sure to think of pithy statements to make to the adoring press crews when you are declared a hero. Hopefully, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet are your passengers on their way to a billionaires convention and really want to show their appreciation to you.


If you or your dinner friends ever find themselves in that situation, you must figure out how to talk on the VHF radio. That can be a daunting task considering the complexity of today's comm panels. The frequency selector is fairly obvious. At first, leave everything as-is, and key the microphone on the last radio setting: push to talk, let go to listen, it's simplex. If that fails, figure out how to dial in 121.5 (universal emergency frequency). On the second radio, dial in 123.45 (universal pilot-to-pilot). Pilots tend to monitor both freqs tansoceanic, and 121.5 over land. Frankly, you will get more initial help from a pilot in the same airspace...it's happened many times, Hoss.



We're not pilotless yet, but leave it to the bean counters to permanently incapacitate the pilot profession. Now there's a leap of faith! But, if you told my Grandpa that one day that passenger train would not have an engineer or conductor, he would have scoffed.


Depending on the level of automation and aircraft technology, you may be able to survive and make millions on the talk-show circuit, write a book, and consult on your movie rights.

Capt Martinet (look it up)

 

Your question is a good one, because there are plenty of passengers that make the leap of faith and put their lives in the hands of pilots....and one of their worst anxieties is triggered by loss of control over the security of their life (some vestigial lizard-brain function).

Your question was in the context of a multi-crew aircraft. The scenario is unlikely, but here goes anyway.

A previous post mentions that once the aircraft is airborne, it can be fully automatic all the way to touchdown. This is correct within limits, because the airplane still only does what is commanded (pilot inputs) by the autopilot. In autoland equipped aircraft, the Flight Management System requires pilot input, and is seldom (if ever) programmed to the runway threshhold. This usually happens when cleared for an approach, and the pilot "cleans up any route discontinuities and commands the autopilot to intercept. Even then, the autopilot has to be configured to accept the autoland in order to arm autoland systems and features...otherwise, the autopilot will simply drive the aircraft into the ground at a dangerously high rate of decent and speed. If it is set up correctly, you will get a smooth but firm touchdown on the correct runway, runway alignment during the rollout, and automatic braking. Be sure to think of pithy statements to make to the adoring press crews when you are declared a hero. Hopefully, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet are your passengers on their way to a billionaires convention and really want to show their appreciation to you.


If you or your dinner friends ever find themselves in that situation, you must figure out how to talk on the VHF radio. That can be a daunting task considering the complexity of today's comm panels. The frequency selector is fairly obvious. At first, leave everything as-is, and key the microphone on the last radio setting: push to talk, let go to listen, it's simplex. If that fails, figure out how to dial in 121.5 (universal emergency frequency). On the second radio, dial in 123.45 (universal pilot-to-pilot). Frankly, you will get more initial help from a pilot in the same airspace...it's happened many times, Hoss.



We're not pilotless yet, but leave it to the bean counters to permanently incapacitate the pilot profession. Now there's a leap of faith! But, if you told my Grandpa that one day that passenger train would not have an engineer or conductor, he would have scoffed.


Depending on the level of automation and aircraft technology, you may be able to survive and make millions on the talk-show circuit, write a book, and consult on your movie rights.

 

Before 911, I was on a A-320 Airbus to Cancun. Our first stop from SFO was Guadalajara. About 30 minutes before landing (in Guadalajara), I asked a flight attendant if the captain would let me in the cockpit. She came back and said she would get me in 10 minutes, which she did.

In the cockpit, the two pilots, based in Mexico city, VERY cool guys! They were pounding down coffee and chain smoking Marlboro Red's! I asked the Captain how good the auto-pilot avionics were on the plane. He smiled and went through a checklist to set the plane up for an auto-landing. It was cool! Both the Captain and co-pilot sat there smoking away, not touching a thing.

About 200 feet above the ground, an automated voice came on......"One Hundred"........"Seventy Five".........."Fifty".........."Twenty Five" and then we were on the ground. The Captain did not touch ANY controls until the plane was down to about 25 knots. 911 really screwed things up for requsts such as mine!

 

Some more progress in this direction.

Boeing, TUIfly conduct precision-landing demo

Commercial Airplanes and Phantom Works employees last month teamed with European carrier TUIfly.com, air navigation service provider Deutsche Flugsicherung and Rockwell Collins to complete the first European precision landing using an advanced system that guides airplanes to runways with unprecedented accuracy. A TUIfly 737-800 equipped with the Global Positioning Landing System (GLS) performed the precision landing at Bremen Airport in Germany.

Unlike current ILS (Instrument Landing System) technology, which relies solely on information from ground stations, the GLS integrates data from the global navigation satellite system, ground stations and a multi-mode receiver on the airplane to provide pinpoint accuracy of the airplane's position relative to the runway and surrounding terrain. The technology enables low-visibility approach and landing and is less expensive to implement than current systems because only one ground station is needed to support operations at multiple runways ends.

“GLS is a key element of Boeing's air traffic management efficiency improvement effort and is expected to help enhance safety by significantly improving takeoff and landing capability at airports around the world,” said Rick Wilber, Project Bremen technical lead and Boeing Technical Fellow.

For more than a year, the team worked to bring a certified GLS-equipped airplane, a prototype ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) and operational approval to Bremen Airport in an effort dubbed Project Bremen. The landing represents the start of a trial phase, which is expected to support certification of GBAS in Europe.

“Programs like Project Bremen are essential to gathering operational data and getting the airlines, service providers and regulators moving ahead with GLS/GBAS adoption,” Wilber added.