Steam Gauges Are Safer

Technically advanced aircraft (TAA)-those with a primary flight display (PFD), multi-function display (MFD), and GPS-are sexy. Pilots are drawn to them like Pooh Bear to honey. Besides being eye-catching, TAA attempt to address some of the biggest problems in aviation by providing pilots with a lot of supplementary safety information. Moving maps designed to improve situational awareness make it almost impossible to get lost. Databases store more information at the touch of a button than…

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, July 30, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA), despite offering sophisticated safety features and being flown by more experienced pilots, have nearly double the fatal accident rate of traditional "steam gauge" aircraft.
This paradox stems from pilots' inaccurate or incomplete mental models of complex "black box" avionics, leading to "automation confusion" or "automation surprise" during critical flight phases.
Contributing factors include training gaps that fail to fully address advanced technology's nuances, and "risk compensation," where perceived safety gains encourage pilots to take greater risks.
Improving TAA safety requires pilots to understand the inherent complexity, train for potential automation surprises, have a strategy for automation misbehavior, and actively mitigate risk compensation.

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Technically advanced aircraft (TAA)—those with a primary flight display (PFD), multi-function display (MFD), and GPS—are sexy. Pilots are drawn to them like Pooh Bear to honey. Besides being eye-catching, TAA attempt to address some of the biggest problems in aviation by providing pilots with a lot of supplementary safety information. Moving maps designed to improve situational awareness make it almost impossible to get lost. Databases store more information at the touch of a button than a thirty pound chart case. We can display more weather information in the cockpit than was even available 30 years ago. Combine all that with an autopilot that provides time to gather and interpret, and you’d think we’d be a lot safer.