APCO ‘trap’ at depot entry
Error in headcode entry procedure missed
Interface confused distracted driver
In Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘M’Andrews hymn’, an old Scots ship’s Chief Fleet Engineer approaching retirement looks back on a long career. His reveries include the developments in propulsion machinery – Kipling knew his engineering – and concludes:
‘What I ha’ seen since ocean steam began
Leaves me na doot for the machine: but what about the man?’
In the 21st century, the same question can be asked about digital control systems and automation. Consider, for example, civil aviation.
SKILLS Where once the auto-pilot, originally known as George, maintained straight and level flight on a constant course and at constant altitude, modern Flight Control Computers (FCC) can fly an Airbus or a Boeing more accurately and efficiently than a human pilot. Indeed, for the sake of minimising fuel consumption, captains are instructed to switch on ‘the magic’ immediately after take-off.
These fly-by-wire flight control systems keep the aircraft within safety envelopes and can override inappropriate control inputs. They are several times safer than analogue flight. But the corollary, the subject of much concern, has been…
