Premium on Safety - Issue 44, 2022 - 6

BEST PRACTICES
Technology Is " Available Safety "
But it's not a " magic bullet "
BY DAVID ST. GEORGE
Since the early days of aviation, technological improvements in
engines and airfoils, then avionics and navigation, have enabled
a steady increase in safety and efficiency. Improvements in
technology have also steadily changed our perception of what
defines " acceptable risk. " In the Ernest Gann days of airline
development, passengers eagerly queued up to board airliners
traveling the globe despite the fact that we were sometimes
losing an airliner every week. These accidents were considered
an acceptable risk to the growing industry. Now riding a bicycle is
statistically much riskier than flying in an airliner.
General aviation also has benefited from technological
improvements this century with better autopilots and integrated
glass panel GPS navigation. Yet these tools by themselves do not
create safety, proven by the GA accident rate, which has remained
remarkably flat. Technology only provides the opportunity for
greater safety. Increasingly complicated technology is cited as
the causal factor in both GA and even recent airline accidents!
Increased pilot skill and proficiency, when bonded with solid
aircraft systems knowledge is the true pathway to greater safety.
Computer technology has dramatically changed all areas of our
daily life, but most dramatically transformed aviation. In the
early 1990s we were struggling to " close the gap " in the LORAN
navigation chain, with a " six pack " panel and maybe an HSI? In the
early 1990s, GPS was still an unproven, new idea. Now the Garmin
Autoland technology can navigate an airplane to the nearest
suitable field, advise ATC, land the aircraft on the centerline,
and shut down completely autonomously. The application of
technology such as this can save the lives of passengers in the
case of pilot incapacitation. Aircraft certificated under FAR Part
6
23 can now use NORSEE approval for the installation of affordable
non-certified glass panels that make charter pilots in " Jurassic
Jets " envious. Pilots today are programming computers more than
they fly sometimes, still, this not a " magic bullet " for increasing
safety.
The dark side of technological improvements is pilot dependency
on them, and something dubbed the " automation paradox. "
Automation steals pilot currency and instills blind dependency
in the very systems that seem to work like magic in modern
planes. At the same time, pilots are increasingly designed out of
the airplane as systems move toward greater autonomy. Airline
crews have incrementally decreased from five souls on the flight
deck to just two-and there are studies being carried out right
now to approve only one pilot on airliners. " Flying " is now mostly
monitoring automated systems. Are totally autonomous airframes
without pilots our necessary (and desirable) future? Take a look
at this link (Safety 2.0) and decide for yourself the necessity of
human intervention and monitoring in all safe flights.
Autopilots integrated with comprehensive navigators do an
amazing job of flying an airplane more accurately and smoother
than any pilot. Humans are subject to variable ability, fatigue,
and distraction. The stated safety advantage of an autopilot
managing the control system is allowing the human pilot more
time to consider the larger issues while carefully monitoring the
flight progress. But complacency and lack of situational awareness
are well-known problems. With " George " flying, the human, as
mentioned in a previous article, quickly checks out and can lapse
into " screensaver mode. "

https://www.flyingmag.com/xwing-flies-cessna-caravan-autonomously/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristykiernan/2019/11/14/new-nasa-research-explores-contribution-of-pilots-to-aviation-safety/?sh=5538851c2ac3 https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/premiumonsafety_2022issue43/index.php#/p/8

Premium on Safety - Issue 44, 2022

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