This article is hard to parse, and I'm a pilot, but my approximate summary:
-Angle of attack sensor was faulty, twice. It was replaced the day before the accident.
-Malfunctioning angle of attack sensor can confuse the plane when the autopilot is off.
-Even when the autopilot is off, confused computers can still try to (erroneously) correct for erroneous sensor input.
-Human pilots are expected to recognize sensor failure and computer confusion and disconnect affected systems and fly manually.
Back to back failing sensors? That's really bad. Planes don't get confused, but computer software obviously can, and did, but there's a whole ergonomics and user interface aspect that to this day still thrusts a lot of competing information for pilots to sort out. There's no contiguous start to finish automation in aviation, something that should be easier in many ways than automobiles due to high degrees of standardization, and it's that, on top of how rapidly confused automation systems get when fed erroneous information that makes me think the idea of replacing pilots in planes or cars is still a fairy tale.
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[ 5.7 ms ] story [ 14.3 ms ] thread-Angle of attack sensor was faulty, twice. It was replaced the day before the accident. -Malfunctioning angle of attack sensor can confuse the plane when the autopilot is off. -Even when the autopilot is off, confused computers can still try to (erroneously) correct for erroneous sensor input. -Human pilots are expected to recognize sensor failure and computer confusion and disconnect affected systems and fly manually.
Back to back failing sensors? That's really bad. Planes don't get confused, but computer software obviously can, and did, but there's a whole ergonomics and user interface aspect that to this day still thrusts a lot of competing information for pilots to sort out. There's no contiguous start to finish automation in aviation, something that should be easier in many ways than automobiles due to high degrees of standardization, and it's that, on top of how rapidly confused automation systems get when fed erroneous information that makes me think the idea of replacing pilots in planes or cars is still a fairy tale.