Despite an overall decline in airplane accidents over the last 10 years, there were 51 "loss of control" accidents in the last five years, according to the International Air Transport Association. A loss of control accident occurs when a plane stalls out or otherwise challenges the pilot's abilities and the pilot is not able to respond effectively.
Loss of control accidents are often considered pilot errors. Either the pilot did not make the right decision in responding to the plane's warnings or the pilot simply did not know how to respond correctly. Either way, a draft Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) study connects the lack of pilot knowledge to an overreliance on the plane's own mechanical systems.
Identifying the root cause of the loss of control accidents is important to preventing similar accidents from happening in the future. Whether you're in a small plane or a large commercial plane, Santa Rosa aviation accident attorneys believe the safety of all passengers requires alert and well-trained pilots.
Automation Addiction Puts Airline Passengers in Danger
Relying on computers and auto-pilot for all parts of flight other than landing and take-off has left many pilots without the necessary skills to confront in-air emergencies. An Air France flight crashed into the ocean, killing all 228 people onboard the aircraft because the pilots responded incorrectly to a stall warning. The warning disengaged the auto-pilot and the pilots reacted by pulling the nose of the plane up. The correct procedure, that may have saved everyone onboard, was to point the nose down.
Many pilots have lost the ability to manually fly a plane when the automated systems go down or make mistakes with the plane's computer system. Fifty people were killed in a plane crash in Buffalo, New York, after flight information was improperly programmed into the plane's computer system by the pilot. The inputs caused the plane to slow and the pilots were unable to recover the plane without the assistance of the onboard computer.
Promoting Safety in the Skies Starts and Continues With Practice
While many airlines prohibit pilots from disengaging a plane's auto pilot, that may be exactly what needs to be done, although not necessarily while in flight. Kevin Hiatt, vice president of the Flight Safety Foundation, emphasizes the importance of pilots taking time to fly without the automated controls. "They can get rusty if they don't be responsible and go back and manipulate the controls of that airplane manually once in a while so they can see how that airplane actually flies," he stated.
If you've been injured while flying an international airline or a smaller national or regional carrier, it's possible that pilot error contributed to your injuries. Experienced California airline accident attorneys can help you investigate the root cause of your injuries and hold the airline responsible.
