Is autopilot making flight travel MORE dangerous? FAA claims two thirds of pilots make mistakes because of their reliance on technology



A draft report claims pilots are relying too much on automated systems

As a result, they lack knowledge and skills to control plane's trajectory

Typical mistakes include not recognising that the autopilot is disconnected

Others include failure to take the proper steps to recover from a stall in flight



Advances in technology are often praised for making aircraft safer but the greatest hazard to passengers are the pilots who rely on machines to do much of the flying.

This is according to the Wall Street Journal who has seen a draft report commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Among other things, the draft report says that ‘pilots sometimes rely too much on automated systems and may be reluctant to intervene.’

A study commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration claims that 'pilots sometimes rely too much on automated systems and may be reluctant to intervene'

The study adds that some pilots ‘lack sufficient or in-depth knowledge and skills’ to properly control their plane's trajectory, due to inadequate training methods.

Andy Pasztor reports that in the accidents examined, around two-thirds of pilots had difficulty manually flying planes or made mistakes using the aircrafts’ computers.

The report, which is scheduled for release this week, isn’t the first time that pilot dependence on automated systems has been cited as a major concern.

The study found that around two-thirds of pilots had difficulty manually flying planes or made mistakes using the aircrafts' computers

In 2011, a study examining data from 46 accidents and 9,000 flights, found that in more than 60 per cent of accidents pilots had trouble manually flying the plane or made mistakes with automated flight controls.

A typical mistake was not recognising that either the autopilot or the auto-throttle, which controls power to the engines, had disconnected.

Others failed to take the proper steps to recover from a stall in flight or to monitor and maintain airspeed.

Poor situational awareness, as well as an inability to use automated systems, is thought to be the main reason behind a number of crashes globally in recent years.

For instance, four years ago near Buffalo, New York, the co-pilot of a regional airliner programmed incorrect information into the plane's computers, causing it to slow to an unsafe speed.

That triggered a stall warning.

The captain, who hadn't noticed the plane had slowed too much, responded by repeatedly pulling back on the controls, overriding two safety systems, when the correct procedure was to push forward.

Poor situational awareness, as well as an inability to use automated systems, is thought to be the main reason behind a number of crashes globally in recent years

The plane crashed, killing all 49 aboard and one on the ground.

The problem is compounded by pilot fatigue, according to the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa).

In May 2010, tiredness was cited when an Air India flight crashed on approach to Mangalore airport, and 158 died.

Incredibly, the captain Zlatko Glusica had been asleep for half the flight from Dubai — and woke up feeling disorientated when it was time to land.

When the cockpit recording equipment was examined, it was found to contain 110 minutes of silence - broken only by the sound of snoring and deep breathing.

Bill Voss, president of the U.S. Flight Safety Foundation, believes the ability of pilots to respond to the unexpected loss or malfunction of automated systems 'is the big issue that we can no longer hide from'.

'We've been very slow to recognise the consequence of it,' he said.