NASA and airline industry and single pilot flight 6

[kensensorlearner]

I just read today in the news that NASA is advising the airline industry to go with single pilot flight. Now all technical details aside, I thought NASA's purview was over spaceflight? Since when do they work with civil aviation? Can anyone explain the role here? I know NASA does research work on aerodynamics that is used by the civil aviation industry, but this is a very routine operational thing.

Reference:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/single-pilot-cockpits-floated-in-nasa-study-1418611930

Technically speaking now, why aren't we doing this already? I thought 90% of the flight time was on autopilot anyway?

Thanks,
K

 

[IRstuff]

That cuts both ways. Someone in the tower, which is much easier to get to, could command the plane into a death spiral, and the pilots would be helpless, again. There basically is no fool-proof solution, short of watchers watching the watchers that watch the watchers that watch the pilots.

Anything that is transmitted over the airways, in particular, is vulnerable to a number of things, like bad connections, jamming, hacking, etc. Even assuming nothing else untoward, simple RF jamming would prevent the link from functioning correctly. And, an RF link simply exposes the control system to interminable hacking from the outside. Certainly, were such a link to exist, a would-be terrorist would do what was originally suspected in the Air Malaysia flight, disabling of the antennas and radios.

We are just going to have to get used to attrition from terrorists in the future. Any door you build, figurative or actual, is subject to innumerable attempts to enter; it's just the nature of doors. Any countermeasure imposed is subject to counter-countermeasures. MAD magazine prophesied such doings 50 yrs ago in their Spy vs. Spy.

TTFN
faq731-376

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529


Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com:

http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

 

[berkshire]

Back in the 60's there was a joke: " This is a fully automated system, nothing can possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong. !!! "
Its still out there. Murphy is invincible.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.