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FAA Says No More Minesweeper Or Solitaire In Cockpit
If you like to pass the time playing minesweeper, or checking your Facebook updates while piloting a 900,000-pound aircraft 400 mph, you won't like the latest FAA decision. The agency has asked airlines to create policies to minimize cockpit distractions, including pilots' use of personal electronic devices. "There is no room for distraction when your job is to get people safely to their destinations," said DOT Secretary Ray LaHood. "The traveling public expects professional pilots to focus on flying and on safety at all times."
"focus on flying and on safety at all times" is staring at a big blue sky of nothing for hours on end. That will put anyone to sleep. Let them keep their minds doing something, who really cares what they do.
With the ban on texting and cell phone use with out a handsfree device for public transportation and the trucking industry, who finds this surprising? I'm only surprised that this wasn't already banned.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't modern airliners basically fly themselves once they're at cruising altitude? What are these pilots supposed to do, stare at the unchanging instruments for hours until their eyes glaze over and they pass out? Checking every gauge on the instrument panel every 5 seconds for 8 hours during a transoceanic flight might sound exciting to most of us, but I bet it isn't as great as it's cracked up to be.
Look, for most flights, there's just not a lot to do in between take-off and landing. What are the pilot and co-pilot supposed to do on long flights, where the auto-pilot is doing everything for several long hours, just sit there and stare into space? I'd rather they be keeping their minds awake and alert by playing a video game than getting bored and dozing off. What's next, will they ban reading and talking to each other in flight, too? I'm all for regulations about what they can and can't do just before, during, and after take-off and landing, but this categorical ban seems like good politics but bad policy.
How many of us have been berated for doodling while listening to a lecture in class? It's something that's oft criticized, and yet recent evidence has shown that doodling helps us pay attention by managing boredom. This counter-intuitive result makes it clear that what's really going on isn't always obvious.
I'm not going so far as to say that dickering on a netbook is a good idea when flying a commercial aircraft, but I will say that we should do some kind of study of the real effects of such "distractions" on real-world metrics like accident history, etc. We may well find that "distractions" result in better-qualified pilots remaining on the job rather than moving on elsewhere, and a subsequently reduced accident rate, even if individual pilot performance is somewhat reduced.
While phrases like "900,000 pound aircraft at 400 MPH" sound dramatic, the truth is that the aircraft are almost universally on auto-pilot, are flying somewhere above 30,000 feet, and are being monitored by RADAR at all times, so that any close calls cause planes to be diverted. And a "close call" is anything under 3 MILES of horizontal separation, and 1000 feet of vertical separation, so we aren't talking about a situation where you would even SEE the other aircraft without knowing exactly what direction to look for it.
Statistically speaking, it's safer to fly on a commercial airliner than it is to VISIT a family member in a hospital!
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
Seriously, most pilots start at a disgustingly low salary and stay there. There's a disproportionate amount of them that receive government assistance, such as food stamps. Starting at 17k/year in some companies, they make less than an assistant manager at Jack in the Box.
Yeah, I want that guy flying my aircraft even more depressed about his job.
Yea for deregulation!
I am currently doing flight training to a commercial pilot level. One of the things I do as a skills practice is fly on MS Flight Simulator using the VATSIM (Virtual Air Traffic Simulation) network - http://www.vatsim.net/ - and I routinely fly transoceanic flights. We fly with real airline callsigns, following real aircraft routes and timetables. The instrumentation and controls are (for the most part) the same as the real thing. The Flight Management Computers in the simulated planes are exactly the same as the real thing. If you have good equipment, the hands-on controls are almost the same. It's a fun way to pass the time and keep skills up to date...BUT:
It's so boring! Here is an example of what I look at for 9 hours without touching anything: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14584559@N03/4502059275/
When you've got 9+ hours of looking at nothing, and you only have to make radio contact once an hour (North Atlantic Track position reports) there is actually nothing to do. At most, you scan the instruments every couple minutes. Even on the flight sim, I usually resort to what we call "In-flight Movies" which is essentially pull up Hulu and watch something until we next have to change the aircraft controls, which is usually when leaving land or making landfall on the other side.
You have a cruising altitude which is held by a computer, and a heading which follows a little line on your on-board GPS, and a speed which is usually also controlled by a computer(or if not, it's setting a lever to a certain position and leaving it there). There is literally NOTHING for the pilot to do if they can't have some sort of distraction. Some real-world pilots I have flown with read a newspaper or magazine, some play with a Game Boy, DS, PSP, etc Some get up and walk through the passenger cabin just like a "How are you, how's it going?" sort of thing. Almost like a chef in a restaurant would come out to the dining area and ask how people's food is.
On top of the endless boredom, they don't get paid nearly enough. Pilots have one of the lowest returns on their education costs of any profession. Throw in the fact that their skills are there to protect hundreds of lives at a time, and you'd think they would be well-paid.
Making regulations that prohibit them from minor distractions in the course of this endless boredom will most likely lead to highly detrimental results. I would not be surprised to see that there were more incidents with pilots falling asleep than previously as these regulations begin to take effect.
Very disappointing, FAA. Maybe you could instead start regulating things that jack up travel prices, waste fuel, and cause extreme delays, like airlines selling more flights in and out of airports than the runways can physically accommodate in a given amount of time. Or like the stupid TSA requirements that we are subjected to as passengers on commercial airlines.
The airlines are failing, and it's their own damn fault. Unnecessary regulation like this is a waste of taxpayers' time and money, and pushes prospective customers and employees away from the industry.
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
It's bad enough being a passenger on lengthy flights. Being a pilot and making those trips over and over and over again? There has to be a way to allow the brain to relax at certain times. Studies have shown that 20 minutes is the optimal amount of time for class room lessons because after that, the mind tends to start drifting and losing focus. If this is true, then it is likely that a similar situation occurs for truck drivers and airline pilots. If a pilot's mind is going to drift while doing something, I'd rather it not be while watching controls and dials. There should be other protocols and procedures at play instead of simply demanding super-human focus and concentration of commercial pilots.
A quick review of the replies here suggests that most are unconcerned with distractions in the cockpit. I'm impressed that everyone has such a calm disposition about this matter. What happened with Northwest in MSP was the first time that I know of where a crew lost contact with ATC and overflew a destination because they were distracted and not because of being having fallen asleep. There are several incidents where crews, as a result of fatigue, simply fell asleep. But becoming distracted in the cockpit won't be solved by banning PDA,'s, laptops and such. IMO, existing policies are sufficient and need no adjustments. What does need fixing is the aircraft. The FAA should mandate pilot response equipment on all aircraft in Part 121 (scheduled air carrier) operations. This equipment alerts the crew if a specified amount of time has elapsed with no crew interaction, and escalates in intensity from an alert to a caution to a warning. Improving ground to cockpit communication would also help.
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?