Quantcast

Pilot reliance on automation under scrutiny after fatal crash near Truckee

American Airlines Launches Ultra‑Long‑Haul DFW–Manila Flights
Thousands of flights canceled or delayed across America's busiest airports
Emirates operates with SAF at London Heathrow Airport
British Airways Introduces Brunch Service on Long-Haul Flights
AirAsia FREE SEATS is BACK! - Book Cheap Flight now!
FAA Investigating After JetBlue Plane Skids Off Runway
Virgin Atlantic Offers Family-Friendly Holiday Packages
The Billion-Dollar Outlier That's Rescuing San Francisco Tourism
New Heathrow Security Rule Makes Packing Bags Easier for Travelers
Alaska Airlines Adding More Boeing 787 to Boost Seattle Hub
Ryanair cancels 170 flights, disrupts over 30,000 passengers on French ATC strike
What to Know About Travel to Europe During This Record-Breaking Heatwave
Airport Workers Save the Day After Woman Loses Diamond from Her Engagement Ring in Baggage Carousel
I never talk to strangers on the plane. After my dad died, a passenger helped me talk about my grief.
American Airlines reveals new summer route: Miami → Rome
Budget UK airline launches huge sale with £29 flights to 475 holiday hotspots – but you’ll have to be quick
Delta Passengers Can Book a ‘Last Mile’ Private Jet Charter to Europe This Summer
Honeywell Runway Safety Technology Selected by Southwest Airlines for Fleetwide Installation
Southwest Airlines Adds Cockpit Alerts to Boost Runway Safety
FAA Drone Detection Testing
This Airline Is Going to Start Handing Out $675 Fines to 'Unruly' Passengers: 'It Is Unacceptable'
Summer of savings? New analysis shows airfare has dropped significantly - The Points Guy
FAA Admits Uncertainty On Drone Numbers In U.S. Airspace, Raising Safety Concerns
Travelers are taking extreme measures and using hacks to avoid airline baggage fees
Pigeons Cause Chaos on Delta Flight
United Airlines’ Uniforms Get A Facelift—And A Political Filter
United Continues to Face Catering Chaos at San Francisco
Passenger tries opening plane door mid-flight, gets zip-tied by veterans
Passenger Stows Away on Delta Flight from New York to Paris
Air India Eyes 10 New Codeshare , Plans Global Expansion
Pilot reliance on automation under scrutiny after fatal crash near Truckee
Policy
Webp 898vmm0ovyiogs3i4ise06qknsub
Aviation International News | Aviation International News

In all my years of flying, whether as an instructor/evaluator or simply a member of the crew, I’ve never seen a pilot win a fistfight with the autoflight. As I was nearly done writing this article in early May, the NTSB issued its preliminary report on the fatal accident involving a Daher TBM 700, N960LP, near Truckee, California, on March 30, 2024.

In his report on the release, Gordon Gilbert wrote for AIN that “the preliminary accident report shows a series of autopilot engagements and disengagements” just prior to the accident.

Here’s the set-up: The airport was closed; the weather was IMC with ceiling and visibility requiring an instrument approach. The PIC was reported by the NTSB to have had 250 hours flying the aircraft. The preliminary report gives few facts beyond these initial findings, and we may never know why this series of apparent actions in the cockpit were taken.

Get the Newsletter
Sign-up to receive weekly round up of news from Sky Industry News
By submitting, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By providing your phone number you are opting in and consenting to receive recurring SMS/MMS messages, including automated texts, to that number from our short code. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to end. SMS opt-in will not be sold, rented, or shared.

Initial indications suggest that the pilot made several attempts to connect the autoflight while maneuvering the aircraft close to the ground in an area of high terrain at night in poor weather conditions. Drawing irrefutable conclusions from this information will be a challenge for the NTSB, but its final report will be one that many pilots will be anxiously awaiting. It had the effect of immediately reinforcing for me how important this topic is to contemporary aviation safety.

Inevitably, whether new to flying or a seasoned veteran with thousands of hours, every contemporary pilot will confront new technologies designed to increase safety margins and contribute to both efficiency and productivity. We all generally agree that those are good things—and wouldn’t have it any other way.

But unless we work for an organization that has resources to deal with these advances systematically through training and evaluation programs supported by a rigorous standardization team, many crewmembers are mostly on their own when it comes to smoothly blending traditional airmanship with contemporary automation. Whether adapting to enhanced vision systems like EFVS or SVS augmented with a head-up display (HUD), or the latest mandated communications-navigation-surveillance (CNS) systems and protocols, flight crews need extensive knowledge and proficiency which is not going to diminish in coming years.

Yet few training programs—even industry-leading ones—recognize the need for developing a balanced approach that blends proficiency with advanced flight guidance systems alongside traditional stick-and-rudder skills.

If you stay committed to a flying career long enough, eventually you will encounter conditions requiring manual control over automated systems. Yet real-world practice opportunities can seem scarce when aircraft and crew are engaged in revenue operations.

If you’re reading this thinking “Yeah, this isn’t a problem,” it may be because you haven’t yet experienced practical conflicts between manual control and onboard automated systems designed for flight path management. Aviation safety sources are plentiful; NASA’s ASRS system offers numerous reports detailing airborne crews grappling with autoflight systems in real time—a less than ideal scenario.

A recent search within NASA's ASRS database using criteria “Excursion from assigned altitude” plus “Human Factors/Human-Machine Interface” generated 648 results. These incidents highlight ongoing challenges where manual intervention could have been safer—a persistent issue our industry should address by refining relationships between hardware (aircraft integrated systems) and wetware (pilots).

This concern is shared by many pilots and has caught attention from researchers and regulators alike. ICAO is concluding its study on declining hand-flying skills—a significant research effort expected later this year—highlighted by Aviation Week & Space Technology journalists who noted increasing automation dependency over decades: from 22% during 1990-2010 up to 49% post-2010 among studied accidents/incidents involving flight-path issues.

The study states: “Technical advances in flight deck systems are not being supported with sufficient training or best-practices guidance,” leading many pilots towards excessive reliance on automation while lacking fundamental hand-flying skills.

Our research supports these findings; Convergent Performance emphasized mandatory hand-flying opportunities within SOPs as routine practice back in our book Automation Airmanship (McGraw-Hill Education). For instance: mandating manual departures instead of autopilot engagement at low altitudes fosters balance between autoflight proficiency versus manual control skills—though optimal policies depend on various factors including local conditions/experience levels/safety considerations necessitating continuous follow-up/fine-tuning post-implementation.

Veteran pilots’ experiences show preemptive decisions/briefings prioritizing manual control often precede potential conflicts over automated system use during flights.

Chris Lutat is managing partner at Convergent Performance/B777 captain/co-author "Automation Airmanship: Nine Principles Operating Glass Cockpit Aircraft."

Opinions expressed herein belong solely author/not necessarily endorsed by AIN Media Group.

Organizations Included in this History
More News

Eurowings reported stable performance for the first half of 2025, operating 77,000 flights and transporting over 10 million passengers.

Jul 31, 2025

Alaska Airlines' Global Getaways offers savings of up to 50% on award redemptions to select international destinations, starting at just 12,500 miles.

Jul 31, 2025

Ericelda Melendez has been recognized for her leadership and teamwork at Flying Food Group's LAI facility.

Jul 31, 2025

Our facility in Denver recently marked a significant milestone by celebrating 11 years of dedicated service from Armando de Santiago.

Jul 31, 2025

Allegiant Air has announced the addition of seven new nonstop routes and the commencement of service at Fort Myers (RSW), expanding its all-nonstop network.

Jul 30, 2025

Flying Food Group has announced open positions and is inviting candidates to apply online or by email, according to a post on X. According to Food Logistics, Flying Food Group is a leading provider of airline catering and food solutions,...

Jul 30, 2025