Piloting problems: Pilot skills deteriorating because of technology

[Laurinelikestofly]

Airline safety may be at stake with the current automation of the cockpits. The civil aviation pilots may be relying too much on technology and they are losing the instinct and skills developed by manual flying.

While automated systems have improved the global security, the pilot needs to ultimately be in charge, and not just co-pilot the aircraft. They need to rely on what they can see and hear as well as on what the system tells them, because the computer can make the issues seem less threatening than they are.

After some accidents (like the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo in February 2009) where it became obvious that pilot's skills were slowly decreasing, some companies in the Middle East like Emirates have decided to emphasize manual flying in their pilot training program.

The United States haven't yet taken any step concerning the issue until now. Let's hope for everyone's sake that they will implement new training procedures more focused on manual flying in the future.