Hindsight 36 Magazine Autumn 2024
RUDY PONT is an Airbus 320 Captain with MSc degrees in electro-mechanical engineering, air safety management and safety sciences. He chairs the Air Safety Committee of the Belgian Cockpit Association (BeCA) and is a part-time lecturer at the University of Antwerp. Rudy is an active member of the EUROCONTROL Just Culture Task Force and vice-chair of the Belgian Just Culture Platform.
Read the article: https://skybrary.aero/sites/default/files/bookshelf/hs36/HS36-Pont.pdf
As the aviation industry pushes toward autonomous flight, we must ask ourselves: are we ready to fully trust machines, or should we ensure that humans remain in control? Captain Rudy Pont reflects on the value of human judgment and adaptability in his encounter with a flock of birds during take-off.
KEY POINTS
Human qualities: Human pilots possess adaptive, creative, and ethical decision-making skills that current automation cannot replicate, particularly in unpredictable situations.
Human control: While technology has significantly improved aviation safety, it is not infallible. Pilots have to intervene when automated systems behave inappropriately and resist overreliance on automation.
Joint cognitive systems: Rather than focusing solely on reducing human error, the aviation industry should aim to optimise the joint cognitive system of human operators and automated systems.
Tacit knowledge and know-how: Replacing human pilots with automation could lead to the loss of valuable tacit knowledge and experience. Frontline professionals often make small, unreported adaptations to ensure safety. This nuance could be lost in fully automated systems.