Word: autopilot
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...might Flight 447 have been flying at the wrong speed? The latest theory is that one of its three Pitot tubes - external sensors used to measure airspeed - iced up, leading to an inaccurate reading. That would have shut down the aircraft's autopilot - one of those 24 messages indicated that had occurred - and compelled the flight-control computer to shift more responsibility to the pilots. Turbulence would have further whittled away at their safe-speed range. "They might have slowed down inadvertently and flown into a stall," says Hans Weber, an aviation-safety expert at Tecop International...
...technical messages" sent by AF447 showed that "several electrical systems had broken down" immediately prior to the crash. A chronology of these messages acquired by the São Paolo daily Jornal da Tarde show that moments before the plane is believed to have plunged into the ocean, its autopilot became disengaged and the plane sustained damage to its stabilizing controls and flight systems, as well as a failure of the systems that were monitoring the aircraft's speed, altitude and direction: the ADIRU (Air Data Inertial Reference Units) and the ISIS (Integrated Standby Instruments System). These are key components...
Qantas Flight 72 had been airborne for three hours, flying uneventfully on autopilot from Singapore to Perth, Australia. But as the in-flight dinner service wrapped up, the aircraft's flight-control computer went crazy. The plane abruptly entered a smooth 650-ft. dive (which the crew sensed was not being caused by turbulence) that sent dozens of people smashing into the airplane's luggage bins and ceiling. More than 100 of the 300 people on board were hurt, with broken bones, neck and spinal injuries, and severe lacerations splattering blood throughout the cabin. (Read...
...Harvard affiliated entity, but a crucial part of student life nonetheless) attempted an April Fools joke that left us all unimpressed. For those of you who didn't notice the bright red link at the upper right hand corner of your inbox, Gmail created a page for a new "Autopilot" feature that would create automated replies to receive email based on the user's own personal writing style. FlyBy is disappointed by the relative obviousness of the joke. Better luck next year...
...last time you shuffled off a commercial airliner and saw just one pilot in the cockpit? Probably never. Federal rules require two pilots for every airline flight, and all airliners must be equipped with GPS, weather-tracking and collision-avoidance systems. Airliners fly predetermined routes, usually on autopilot, and always land at airports. When the weather turns cloudy or the night turns dark, airline pilots have the training and equipment to fly using just their instruments. "You wouldn't get onto an airliner that can't fly through clouds," says Drew Ferguson, lead pilot for Metro Life Flight, which operates...