Performance was dinged if they missed the waypoint by more than three NM, were more than 10 degrees from the assigned heading or more than 300 feet off altitude. He summed it up nicely-we’re pilots, not automation managers fly the plane first and keep up those manual skills.įast forward to 2014 where NASA scientists published a study looking at how 747 pilots navigated to a VOR or a missed approach point (in a Level D simulator-those airline sims up on hydraulic stilts) with no moving map, autopilot, or flight director. As the presenter advised, sometimes it’s better to reduce the level of automation for a given task. One flight crew got so absorbed entering a simple runway sidestep that they landed without a clearance. The result was (is) an increase in situational awareness errors and loss-of-separation in particular. Pilots were (and still are) over using automation, resulting in too much head-down button-pushing.

A 1997 American Airlines seminar appropriately titled “Children of Magenta” summed up the problem nicely, and is even more appropriate today. The airlines learned this early since new toys often came to them first. Human factors geeks realized that automation dependency is a big downside to modern avionics. Drawing on NASA research, I’ll focus on the downside of newer avionics as it relates to IFR flight and illustrate the point by a comparison of the Garmin GTN 750 with its prehistoric antecedent, the GNS 430. A research study showed a decreased fatal accident rate for instrument private pilots in IMC over the 2002-2011 period, although improved training has also likely helped. Just follow the magenta line.Īdvanced avionics have likely improved safety. We no longer chase ADF needles, center VOR-tuned OBS needles, figure cross-wind corrections, mentally calculate distances, etc.

The right software on an iPad can as well, for much less money. A 172 can navigate from takeoff to touchdown. New avionics commonly boast large screens and that easy-to-follow magenta line on the moving map with myriad other features.

General aviation cockpit tech has made amazing advances.

Garmin gns 430 simulator for mac