A pilot told us about the common misconceptions about flying, distress calls, the black box, and auto-pilot
The Airbus A320 was carrying 66 passengers.
No further details about what happened have been delivered yet as the airline is currently assembling a search and rescue team.
However questions will naturally circle about what led to the incident and how after apparently reaching an elevation of 37,000 feet, it disappeared from radar.
Business Insider spoke to a British private pilot (who wanted to remain nameless) about the general misconceptions about flying an aircraft, distress calls, the black box, and auto-pilot.
Business Insider: What are the common misconceptions about pilots flying planes?
Pilot: Of course the principal thing to remember is that flying is very safe. Obviously there are statistics out there, but more often than not, the people who need convincing of this fact aren't going to be swayed by statistics.
There are many people who feel as though the "wings might fall off" or that if the engines fail, it's all over - but this simply isn't the case.
Even an airplane without power will glide for a very long time very easily. Perhaps one of the best known examples is an aeroplane whose fuel leaked out over the Atlantic Ocean, depriving it of both engine power and electricity. The captain - also a glider pilot in his spare time - landed the aircraft safely in the Azores with only his extremely basic backup instruments.
BI: So what do pilots do when they are in the air?
In general terms, a pilot is also responsible for the navigation of the aircraft, the performance of the aircraft, the safe operation of the aircraft systems as well as liaising with air traffic controllers via radio.
Modern automation has taken a lot of the hard work out of these tasks and undoubtedly can do a much better and more accurate job of it than a human could but of course this necessitates a change in how a modern pilot does their job - it's often said that a Captain or First Officer is less a "pilot" and more a "systems manager" and that's probably true for the times when everything goes to plan.
A modern pilot truly earns their pay, though, when things don't go to plan and there's no automated substitute for experience and intuition and modern training reflects this.
BI: So is automation / auto-pilot a bad thing?
P: Perhaps another misconception is that automation is inherently a bad thing - it's demonstrably not.
Without a doubt it's taken some of the romance and mysticism out of flying aeroplanes but in the modern day, the world needs safe and reliable transport solutions and delegating tough and complex tasks to dedicated machinery is a necessary part of that.
Naturally, pilots are required to undergo modern, rigorous and continuous training throughout their careers to stymie this, but a few recent examples of air accidents [AF447, Asiana 214] illustrate that more can always be done.
Finally it's worth noting that aviation practice, procedure and law is always evolving to become safer and more efficient. We don't operate in the same environment as 1950s - or even 1980s - aviators.
Many refinements and improvements are a direct result of air disaster investigations (and it's comforting to know that some good usually comes from a disaster). For example, the specialist language that pilots and air traffic controllers use is constantly becoming less ambiguous and easier for aviators to interpret.
Controllers and pilots never use the phrase "take off" until the exact moment they're required to actually start their takeoff sequence as a direct result of the world's worst aviation accident when two jumbo jets in thick fog believed they could use the same runway at the same time, to name one example.
BI: What are the most common problems that aircrafts can incur if the weather is fine?
P: Commercial, passenger operations are required to operate under all weather conditions and, as such, operate principally using instruments and navigation techniques that do not require good weather.
Therefore, even in good weather, commercial pilots will be flying using their instruments (for example, their "artificial horizon"), on-board GPS-like navigation systems, ground-based navigational radio beacons and relying on air traffic control's radar and instructions to keep clear of other aircraft.
Naturally it's possible to become over-reliant on these systems and problems can ensue if an overly-reliant pilot has to do without a missing part of this puzzle, even when that part isn't required.
One could argue that in such cases (and in other cases where a fully functional aeroplane is mishandled [AirFrance 447], the airline's training regime should focus less on automation and more on basic "hand-flying."
BI: How much is auto-pilot used when flying?
P: For commercial operations, it varies depending on the operator's standard operating procedures and culture, the individual pilot's particular tastes, the weather, and how much automation is available.
At one end of the scale, some operators insist that their flight crews use automation from the earliest possible moment (seconds after takeoff) until the latest possible moment, late into the landing sequence and occasionally right down to the runway surface.
At the other end, a flight might be hand-flown for the entire duration (not uncommon if the flight isn't too long and if the pilot feels like it) or hand-flown during takeoff, climb, and well into the cruise phase as well as the descent and landing phase, with the automated systems handling the majority of the cruise (obviously most common during long-haul flights).
For example, this was posted by a pilot on Reddit with the caption: "Want to know how it feels to fly an airliner? Stare at this picture for about two hours while slowly consuming three cups of coffee":
Hand-flying, especially during the descent and landing phases (when flight crew workload is already at its highest) is especially taxing during bad weather and it's likely that automation will be used to the maximum possible extent at this stage.
It's a sure bet, though, that any flight travelling in a straight line while high up is using its auto-pilot.
For private operations in small aircraft, very little. Most light aircraft aren't equipped with automation and must be flown literally hands-on at all time in a constant balancing act. The larger, newer or more expensive light aircraft are as fully-equipped as a modern jetliner, though, which has obvious appeal if you wish to fly for a long distance and/or in bad weather.
BI: How does this have an impact during a crisis?
P: It depends on the nature of the crisis. Sometimes it's a boon because it allows a pilot to devote more attention to troubleshooting and in other occasions it gets in the way.
In most cases, however, the autopilot is designed to disconnect itself if any non-standard situations develop and require the flight crew to hand-fly the aircraft.
Here's a question raised by aviation experts.
