I'm an inveterate if not an invertebrate fence straddler.
There's no denying the obvious appeal of ideological simplicity.
But in practice, pure systems don't seem to do very well.
Laissez-faire stock markets are but one example. Seems simple. But without protection from insider trading, the average investor would be chronically victimized, cheated.
Regarding commercial airliner piloting it's dangerous to half-step, and automate some systems but not others.
I'm not familiar with the example you've cited, but wouldn't be surprised if the cockpit crew responsible had experience with an aircraft that automated that configuration.
I'm not advocating against hands-off automated night landings under extremely limited visibility conditions due to example fog or snow.
But pilots maintain proficiency with practice, exercise, repetition.
We've already lost passengers & crew to such lapses.
{...
WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – It’s been 38 years since Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed onto I-94, killing all but one passenger.
The aircraft took off from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and was airborne for all of 14 seconds before the crash along Middlebelt Road and I-94.
Flight 255 is the seventh deadliest plane crash in United States history, and is the deadliest aviation disaster to have a sole survivor.
Here is a look back at this Southeast Michigan tragedy.
Flight 255 crew and flight preparation
Captain John R. Maus, a 57-year-old from Las Vegas, and First Officer David J. Dodds, a 35-year-old from Galena, Illinois, picked up their aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, that had just finished a leg with stops in Minneapolis and Saginaw, and prepared for their flight to Phoenix. About 10 minutes before the flight was due to depart the gate, a company transportation agent brought the flight release package to the airplane.
The takeoff performance data that was in the flight crew’s package was based on using either runway 21L or 21R. However, the flight had been instructed by ground control to taxi to runway 3C.
Runway 3C was the shortest of the three available runways. Captain Maus asked his first officer to verify that they could use runway 3C for takeoff. First Officer Dodds had to refer to the company’s Runway Takeoff Weight Chart Manual.
Their takeoff weight had to be below the allowable limits for runway 3C. The chart showed that if the flaps were set to 11 degrees, the maximum allowable takeoff weights for runway 3C was 147,500 pounds. The final takeoff weight for Flight 255’s airplane was 144,047. Basically, all of this technical mumbo jumbo just means that as long as the pilots set their flaps to 11 degrees, their plane would safely get off the ground even with their high takeoff weight and short runway.
While the plane was taxiing, the pilots got a little lost on their way to the runway. After missing a turn, the pilots contacted ground control who then redirected them back to runway 3C. At 8:44 p.m., Flight 255 was cleared for takeoff.
The plane crash
Recordings in the cockpit indicate that the engine power began increasing immediately after the all-clear for takeoff. However, the recording also revealed that the flight crew had trouble engaging the auto-throttle system at first, but did engage the system moments later. First Officer Dodds called “rotate” at 8:45 and a second later, the stall warning stick shaker activated and continued operating until the recording ended.
According to the crash report, all of these issues in the takeoff ultimately contributed to the overall system failure. The auto-throttle system failing to engage was the first red flag, with the stall warning being the second.
Witnesses of Flight 255 agreed that the takeoff roll was longer than what is normal in similar airplane takeoffs. The witnesses also stated that the flight rotation began about 1,200-1,500 feet from the end of the runway and that the tail of the aircraft came close to striking the runway.
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On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The crash resulted in the deaths of all six crew members, 148 of the 149 passengers and two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a four-year-old girl.
www.clickondetroit.com
