Pilots Need More Time Flying, Instead of Computer Control

Pilot Control Panel


Suspected Debris From Air Asia Plane

[From article]
The problem is not the thunderstorms but with modern aviation practices.
[. . .]
A professional pilot always expects things to go wrong. Nothing is normally taken for granted in the cockpit. The fact that a flyer flips a switch is no guarantee that the selected system is going to operate.
Air Asia pilots have precisely the same training and skill requirements as any other airline in the world. What happened to them can happen to any other operator. And has happened.
The degradation of flying skills is endemic throughout the airline industry.
[. .]
hand flying skills became less important and began to take a back seat compared to computer operating competence, which was now seen as the primary way to fly in the intense electronic environment of a modern airliner.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/12/air_asia_8501_when_will_we_learn.html

December 30, 2014
Air Asia 8501. When will we learn?
By Rob Schapiro