By Andy Pasztor and Andrew Tangel
Boeing Co. is increasingly committed to transferring more
control of aircraft from pilots to computers after two crashes
exposed flaws in an automated system on its 737 MAX that
overpowered aviators in the disasters.
Executives at Boeing and other makers of planes and
cockpit-automation systems for some time have believed
more-sophisticated systems are necessary to serve as backstops for
pilots, help them assimilate information and, in some cases,
provide immediate responses to imminent hazards.
Now, such changes also seek to address the fact that average
pilots may not react to problems -- including those tied to
automation -- as quickly or proficiently as designers traditionally
assumed, according to former and current Boeing officials and
industry executives. The view took hold after a flight-control
system known as MCAS put two MAX jets into fatal nosedives within
the past 14 months that together killed 346 people.
"We are going to have to ultimately almost -- almost -- make
these planes fly on their own," then Boeing Chairman Dave Calhoun
said in a CNBC interview in November, roughly six weeks before
relinquishing that job to become the Chicago plane maker's CEO.
Over the years, Boeing rival Airbus SE has tended to devise
systems where pilots are trained to let automated systems handle
emergencies, and company executives say that approach will
continue.
Executives at Boeing and Airbus have said they are also
designing flight-control systems tailored for younger pilots, who
generally have less flying time in their logbooks -- and a more
innate familiarity with technology -- than aviators of years
past.
Airbus earlier this month unveiled touchscreens designed by
France's Thales SA for its A350 wide-body aircraft that permit
pilots to operate them using finger swipes. Airbus is pursuing
additional automation for single-pilot aircraft and enhanced
computer-controlled responses to midair collision warnings,
according to officials at the company and in the industry.
Boeing also plans to tailor its design and training to better
serve the more globally diverse group of pilots now flying its
planes, said former and current company officials familiar with the
plans.
Engineers predict an expansion of automated safeguards
including, possibly, artificial intelligence to assist pilots.
"Such features are certainly going to have a greater role in air
carrier cockpits," said Alan Diehl, a former military and civilian
accident investigator who was one of the first automation
specialists for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Some of the new systems Boeing and other companies are working
on are designed to maintain stable flight while pilots troubleshoot
in moments -- like those during both MAX crashes -- when crews face
cascades of emergency alerts and warnings that can be confusing or
contradictory.
Boeing and Airbus have been automating some aspects of flight
for decades, innovations that have helped make aviation the safest
mode of transportation. From early versions of autopilots to the
introduction of automated landing systems and cockpit layouts
dominated by video screens, computers have steadily gained control
of commercial flight.
Boeing test pilots have boasted at air shows about the ability
of some company jets to automatically compensate if an engine stops
working at takeoff.
Beginning in the 1980s, Airbus devised what is called
fly-by-wire automation to prevent accidents. No matter what
commands pilots give, under normal circumstances, computers on
board won't let them turn a plane too sharply or raise the nose to
too steep an angle. Boeing, by contrast, traditionally designed
automated systems that could be overruled by crew commands.
That distinction started blurring long before
automation-gone-haywire overpowered two MAX crews. Boeing has
crafted extensive fly-by-wire applications, some beyond the control
of pilots.
Now Boeing is rethinking how to tailor more sophisticated
automation without forsaking its pilot-centric design approach,
said the current and former company officials with knowledge of the
company's plans.
"We're also going to take a look at the pilot-machine interface
on our airplanes in designing that for the next generation, as
technology is rapidly evolving," then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg, whom
Mr. Calhoun is set to succeed in January, said at a congressional
hearing on Boeing's role in the MAX crashes in October. "We are
investing heavily in that area, future flight deck design."
While manufacturers say automation fosters safety, some aviation
experts harbor concerns. Studies have shown that undue reliance on
automation can degrade manual flying skills, or make pilots less
decisive in emergencies. The MAX tragedies also show how automated
features can backfire if they malfunction, said Mica Endsley, an
industry consultant and former chief scientist for the Air
Force.
"Engineers get very enamored with their automation," Ms. Endsley
said. "When we assume it's perfect, then we don't design" necessary
defenses for pilots, she said.
Boeing's automation projects include an electrically powered
cargo plane that would fly without any aviators on board. Before
the second MAX crashed in March, the company said it had completed
the initial test flight of a totally autonomous prototype vehicle
that can take off and land vertically.
Some of the most potent automation is first surfacing in private
or recreational aircraft. A number of models allow pilots at the
push of a button to have computers maintain speed and altitude
while they pore over emergency checklists. Other models
automatically head for a designated airport in case of pilot
incapacitation.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com and Andrew Tangel
at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 31, 2019 13:33 ET (18:33 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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