Automation Under Scrutiny: More Oversight is Coming, But Why Wait?

We are barely into the new year and already it looks as if we have one of the prime drivers of this year’s safety agenda (well, actually, it’s going to be longer than that). On January 7, 2016 the FAA’s Office of Inspector General issued its Audit Report on the “…hazards associated with increased use of …

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The Next Big Thing in Automation – SVGS, Part 2

In our last posting we introduced what we think will be one of the most enabling aviation technologies of the coming decade, SVGS, which is short for Synthetic Vision Guidance System. With the fusion of enabling technology that already exists on many flight decks, it could enter every kind of aircraft cockpit faster than any …

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The Next Big Thing in Automation – SVGS, Part 1

Instead of starting the new year with some lofty goals for improving overall airmanship in advanced aircraft, or looking back at what positive trends we can bring forward from last year, we decided to get out in front of what we think will become one of the hottest aviation technology topics of the next decade. …

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What’s Missing in this Picture?

From this year’s safety events it seems that the emphasis at the end of 2015 is on some very important challenges for our industry, subjects that every aviation organization is trying to stay ahead of. The agendas from many events around aviation this year are looking strangely similar—perhaps for good reason—but maybe to the exclusion …

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Keeping Skills Sharp: Part III, Getting Back What You May Have Lost (and keeping it)

In our last two posts we shared the premise and the general conclusions of one of the most important recent studies into flight crew proficiency on the automated flight deck. With this posting, we look at the study’s implications for modern airmanship (if you need a refresher from the previous two postings, click here for …

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Keeping Skills Sharp: Part II, What You May Have Lost (without knowing it)

In our last post, we shared the premise and the general conclusions of one of the most important recent studies into flight crew proficiency on the automated flight deck. With this posting, we look at the study’s implications for modern airmanship, (if you need a refresher, click here). Scientific research can be daunting for the …

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Keeping Skills Sharp: Part I, Did You Lose Something?

In this posting (the first in a three-part series), we share the basics of an important new study into pilot proficiency in automated aircraft. Hopefully, it will get you thinking, and perhaps even sharing your own experience with your fellow professionals. In our next posting, we will highlight what we think is the most important …

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Making the Non-Routine, Routine

If there is one single maneuver that each of us should expect to be able to execute on any given flight leg, that involves an understanding of each of the 9 Principles of Automation Airmanship, it is the Go-Around. We’re not talking about the go-around maneuver that each of us practiced in training (you know …

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Modern Automation: A Force to be Reckoned with

For over a decade we have been advocating a systematic yet simplified approach to the automated flight deck environment. When we first introduced Automation Airmanship in 2004, we were focused on providing aviation professionals with a sound, disciplined and repeatable methodology to apply to encounters with flight deck technology, from the most rudimentary to the …

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