FAA wants NO DISTRACTIONS for pilots

[waveflyer]

Yep, my balls are huge, my $%^& is big, I don't need no autopilot. Come on YIP, put on your management hat. What do you employ pilots to accomplish? I'll tell you, you employee pilots to get an airplane and it's cargo safely from place to place. We don't get because we are the worlds finest hand flyiers, we get paid because we arrive safely at the destination. What would you do if you hired the best hand flier in existence but he kept running out of fuel? You'd fire him. You'd fire him because his job isn't hand flying, it's getting your payload to it's destination.

I hand fly when my other workload allows me to safely concentrate on the flight instruments. At other times, safety demands that I let the single minded autopilot do what it does best while I concentrate on what I do best. I can better scan for traffic when otto is flying. I can better reprogram the box when otto is flying. I can better converse with the FA's when otto is flying. I can better brief the approach when otto is flying, etc. But then again, I am secure in my own skin and don't attempt to impress anyone other than my kids.

Autopilots help avoid task overload. It's simple.


Edit: PS, I did hand fly a Lear and Maddog more than the Airbus. Flying the Airbus is just an exercise in fooling oneself into believing you matter for the ordinary.

the majority of your post is exactly my point with this thread. Our job has always been about managing multiple tasks. The laptops were NOT the problem- it was losing focus with priority #1 flying.

I will stand my ground and argue that a newspaper or sudoku or laptop work helps keep my mind active and alert enough to be a better monitor. There were mistakes, and there are definitely times when flying takes all your brain power. But the laptop isn't the excuse. The mistake was made by those pilots, not the laptop.

We are not robots.

 

[HoursHore]

How about we teach people that if their Cell Phone vibrates on Taxi that they don't need to answer it. Or better yet that they turn it off when the Checklists start. You don't always need to be in contact. Whomever is texting or calling you will not die if you don't get back to them this second.

And how about a Capt who isn't afraid to say "Put that stupid thing away" if he sees his FO texting " Or a FO who isn't afraid to say something smart like "Isn't it hard to taxi and text at the same time" or "Do you want me to Taxi" while the Capt does it.

 

[wms]

A good nap keeps me alert. Especially since we can't have any distractions that would keep us awake.

But the problem with reading material and puzzles is when pilots fixate on them. I'm not saying they shouldn't be allowed, but a few pilots who did not manage the use of them well has created a mess for the rest of us.

If it was up to Washington, the flying public and media, we would sit on our hands and never even speak except to read a checklist no matter how long the flight was. It's all just become a bunch of knee jerk nonsense, and no one high up in the FAA has enough gonads to stand up for what is reasonable.

 

[sat74]

If I remember correctly Lufty has "mobile phones off" on their checklist. I don't see any government goons clamping down on their workplace! If so, I suspect a strike would ensue.