Is the operational error problem a result of too much reliance by flight crews on cockpit automation? BCA received two points of view on one of aviation's more controversial subjects these days. “What we find in our contacts with the international operations community,” Dave Maloy, navigation resource specialist at the FAA's Eastern Region, reported, “is that the technology has led to complacency. 'Why do we have to do these crosschecks any more, since the technology is so good at protecting us?' crews ask us.
To Dave Stohr, the whole issue of GNEs, LHDs, Mach control and serious procedural mistakes can be boiled down to two deficiencies: lack of SOPs — or having but not following them — and lack of knowledge. President and founder of Air Training International, Stohr teaches international procedures and, through IBAC, represents business aviation to the North Atlantic Systems Planning Group.
