Germanwings 9525

Take...these Germanwings....and learn to fly again...

 

I'm too angry/sad for jokes about this story.
Innocent families destroyed because of another demented asshole.

 

Amen!

 

Jokes aside.

Isn't it time Boeing and Airbus enter the 21st Century? Seems to me the two most recent highest profile disasters could have been averted with the use of contemporary avionics -- namely, MH370's location should be pinged every 60 seconds at the very least, and Germanwing's autopilot should be able to engage if the plane's computers sense a major anamoly such as a deep dive in clear weather.

 

How about programing the course into the plane's autopilot and the course can only be changed with dual codes by the Pilot and Co-Pilot or the chief Flight Attendant. Then it would take at least two people to alter a course (heading, altitude and relative speed)

 

This gets into the fundamental point raised in A Space Odyssey - 2001 and others; whom do you trust more, Hal or humans? If you put it in the hands of the computers, you run the risk of humans losing control.

Sucks that the human element led to the tragedy here; giving control away to a computer is not necessarily a fail safe.

 

Who's worse, this pilot or the governor of Indiana?

 

Copilot had a hidden medical condition.

Gov of Indiana is presumably acting on deliberate thoughts / possible intelligent design.

 

But a computer can prevent you from crashing.

In 15 years, we won't be driving on our highways. We will be along for the ride as we click auto pilot on the car.

 

Never would've happened with German Joe or German Brian Hackett in the cockpit.

 

It's interesting that the same cockpit door modifications that were in response to 9/11 probably prevented the pilot from getting back in and stopping the crash.

There's a good point to be made in all this about Homeland Security and the Patriot Act, but I have to get some work done today, so adios.