Monday, August 15, 2011

Are Modern Airplanes Dangerously Overengineered? - Popular Mechanics

Between increasingly automated cockpits and lightweight materials untested over an aircraft's entire lifespan, some aviation watchers are worried the tech of planes is moving too fast. In the wake of revelations about Air France 447, PM's editors take a long, hard look at aviation safety.

The eyes of the global aviation industry were focused on deep-diving robots as they swept the seafloor with side-scan sonar 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic in early 2011. The French government, Airbus and Air France had rented the remotely operated submersibles to find the wreckage of Air France Flight 447, which had fallen out of the sky in 2009. Officials were still looking for answers to explain why an Airbus A330, one of the world's most sophisticated planes, had plunged into the ocean, killing all 228 passengers and crew.

On May 2, the robotic arm of a submersible scooped up an orange cylinder that investigators had sought for nearly two years—AF 447's cockpit voice recorder. French aviation authorities believed that a mechanical malfunction had caused sensors to feed conflicting information to the plane's flight computer, which then disengaged the autopilot. Until investigators heard the recordings, they hadn't realized that bad data plagued the crew as they struggled to regain control of the aircraft. The discovery raises an important question: Are cockpits becoming so complex that pilots can no longer fly planes manually in an emergency?

Automation has helped make flying safer and easier. But some experts wonder if the rush to adopt increasingly sophisticated technology in airplanes is introducing hidden risks. Concerns extend beyond the cockpit. Environmental regulations and rising fuel costs are driving innovations in the use of lightweight composite structures—as yet untested over the life span of a commercial aircraft—and in the development of engines that run hotter and faster than ever before. According to aviation consultant and former National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member John Goglia, "We are pushing the technology faster than at any time in the past."

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