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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."
Should that have been caught when going through security at the airport? I mean, at a minimum, we're talking 10 bombs here...
Does the ban apply to Microsoft Flight Simulator?
"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.
Can we please ban them for talking to the traffic control centre too? Just like we're banning cellphone use in cars?
Thanks.
Reminds me of the classic showing two pilots asking aloud "say...what's a mountain goat doing way up here in a cloud bank?". We could add (before this ruling) "sweet! I just beat your high score on Minesweeper.".
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
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.
I tagged this "aww".
Over what network connection? Use of devices that transmit on an airplane is forbidden by FAA regulations. Surfing the web is out of the question; they have to rely on the porn they have cached on their hard drive.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
How in the world are pilots supposed to check facebook while flying? I can never get a signal while up in the air.
Will having to do their jobs be yet another reason for the pilots' union to strike? They have enough to worry about flying the plane safely. Dealing with their on-line profiles or playing computer games is not a responsible thing to do while in the plane cockpit.
I cannot wait for the first comment along the following lines:
"Yep, flying a jumbo at 20000 feet right now.
Posted from my iPad."
This isn't realy about 10 to 12 hour flights. This is the FAA telling American pilots to not over shoot Minnesota again.
"Put the fucking game boy down and fly the plane"
not so much to ask.
nobody said your job would be fun.
-- Sig under construction...
Ok I am going to go with GOOD! Honestly I would rather have them paying attention to what they are doing. They chose the job of flying planes and regardless of whether or not theres autopilot I want them paying attention. The have a copilot so if they need to take a break to get some coffee or hit the head they can. But really they shouldn't be occupying themselves with facebook or anything of the sort. I want to be SAFE...maybe this could be a reason for some of the crashes where people say well "its unexplained" as of right now.
They managed before. They should be able to manage it still.
They'll be getting that minesweeper time on their iphone while dropping some "air mail" in brown packages.
Camping on quad since 1996.
Otherwise pilots will end up falling asleep or finding something to do with the flight attendants that will most likely be more dangerous than playing minesweeper. They aren't supposed to be doing those either, but if I'm going to break the rules it won't be by playing minesweeper.
"focus on flying and safety" does not require staring at warning lights until they start blinking. It requires keeping your mind alert and being physical able to react when the lights blink and the alarm sounds.
play minesweeper or solitaire while compiling the code for the autopilots. Next stop.. no bugs in software!
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.
This will be a completely moot point when SKYNET becomes self aware.
The *last* thing we need is bored pilots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh_shsRfXqk (monty python video)
Slashdot Sig. version 0.1alpha. Use at your own risk.
At least they haven't banned pilots from joining the mile high club....
Hope is the currency of fools
Nintendo DSs are still cool though, right?
Obviously, the free market could've fixed this problem better. The planes that are piloted by minesweeper-playing pilots would crash, leading to less people flying that particular airline.
I mean, you'd have to have a few thousand deaths or so first, but you do have to break a few eggs to make an omelet
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
All work and no play makes Jack a dull pilot
Why don't they do flight simulations? They could practice flying a plane, while flying a plane!
I'm all for letting pilots practice emergency scenarios - or even routine scenarios. They might even re-route the regular flight controls to the simulator as long as switching back control is fast and clear.
They can pass any laws they want, but who enforces them?
I might be wrong here, but at least for the majority of flights are the pilots the highest ranking people on the plane? and I doubt that a stewardess will go so far as to report a pilot.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
This is obviously coming along with the increased focus on removing distractions from driving (cell phones, texting, DVDs, etc). The problem is that flying a plane has almost nothing in common with driving a car, beyond some rudimentary instrumentation similarities and the overall goal of getting from point A to point B. The skies are not crowded like a freeway--a pilot doesn't have to worry about the plane next to him cutting him off on the way to LAX, because there is no plane next to him--flight paths are planned well in advance. The pilot only has to worry about situations that can't be handled by auto pilot, like mechanical failure or turbulence.
So, in other words, the FAA is saying, "We want you to give your full attention to flying, but you can't do anything to keep yourself awake." I don't care how much sleep you get, a 17+ hour trans-Atlantic flight with nothing to do but check your instrumentation is going to bore you to sleep. In trying to improve flight safety, this is going to have the opposite effect.
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!
...metric, please.
My UID is prime. Hah!
No, the Mile High Club
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
Stare at this picture for 9 hours: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14584559@N03/4502059275/
Every hour or so, say "position report"
Congratulations, you have experienced what a pilot encounters for the majority of a transatlantic flight. If you're ambitious, you can even fake some cockpit announcements.
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
If the plane crashes, the pilot dies too. If the Pilot feels like doing something that isn't going to jeapordize the flight by reading a book or playing a game that s/he can put down, fine by me.
I'd rather have a pilot whose mind is sharpened by a game than dulled by cloud watching.
But give the pilots a wage - flying, day in and day out - is not fun!!!
Seems a much more reasonable suggestion. No, it's not fun - but it is being a pilot, and that's what they do. Frankly I'm not sure they'd enjoy my job (I'm not sure I do) buy, y'know, c'est la vie...
I'd rather have a pilot who's staying awake updating his facebook status than one who's nodding off staring out the window at the night sky.
The airplanes are controlled autonomously in flight, and can even take off and land themselves. Pilots are unnecessary unless you need to change course mid-flight for a storm or mechanical or political problem.
As for distraction, all you have to do is set a waypoint alarm, and heed it when it goes off.
We'll never really know what those two dopes were doing when they overshot their destination, clearly they were a couple of morons who don't deserve to drive, much less fly, but making everyone else's lives less safe this way is not the answer.
Ban the auto-pilot. Problem solved!
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
No, Captain Sully retired because he turned 60, which is the mandatory retirement age. He was and is certainly angry about the pay cuts and the pension devaluations, but that is not the REASON he retired; he was forced to.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
I don't think the original issue is about distraction. The air traffic controllers at Denver and later at Minneapolis tried to establish radio contact with the pilots, and other pilots around that area also tried to radio them. All sorts of speakers would have gone off. For all that the ground is concerned, the aircraft might have been hijacked, except it has not changed its cruising velocity. It's not about distraction. It's not about dozing off. Both pilots would need to fall in a very deep coma for that to happen, or they were simply missing from the cockpit.
I once had a signature.
Nice bit of metric snobbery there, but the airline industry still uses knots to indicate airspeed and feet to indicate altitude....
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Mind you have you ever been to Minnesota? I live there and *I* keep wanting the pilots to overshoot it. The pilots probably just felt the same way.
Zapsavings: Simply calculate how much energy efficient bulb
After all the pilot is the first person to arrive at a scene of crash. There are times when playing Minesweeper would be just fine, and there are times when the pilot needs to be on top of things. An pilot flying an airliner is has equivalent of a PHD in aviation. Perhaps we not try to regulate every last action he does.
...richie - It is a good day to code.
Require this of people working for the Federal Treasury and SEC. I kind of thought that's what they were doing during the last 10 years.
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.
Hi uhhhhh this is your uhhhhhhh captain, would someone mind checking my uhhhhhh Facebook page?
bun-fhuinneog agam!
Going to have to carrying actual cards again.
A regulation banning cockpit sleep is next in the FAA pipeline.
This is absolutely misleading, everyone.
First off, there is no 'ban' on personal electronic devices on the flight deck. According to both TFA and the original FAA press release, the FAA is asking carriers to create and enforce their rules regarding this. Absolutely NOTHING in the article outright bans them from using them on the flight deck.
Second, this only affects FAR Part 121 operations (read: commercial travel). Part 61 (General Aviation), Part 91 (Private Aircraft and Fractional Owners), and Part 135 (On Demand/commuters) do not appear to be affected by this 'request'.
Don't you just love it when the media jump the shark^H^H^H^H^Hgun on every single non-issue...
BL.
So they make me turn off my personal electronic devices for takeoff and landing, but they don't turn off theirs?
You could always bring in some real cards to play solitaire. Or play heads-up poker with the copilot :)
Nah, just kidding, really.
"Told you I can land this bad boy with one hand, and not spill any coffee in the other. Pay up."
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
Hey, I need those seats, you insensitive clod.
and they tell me that you will get used to the smell.
-- Sig under construction...
I live in Wisconsin.
so, yes, I have been to Minnesota.
and let me tell you, It's a long walk from N. Dakota (or wherever they land)
-- Sig under construction...
(cue Barry White music)
At least if one of them's banging the steward/ess, it means that the other one's free to fly the plane.
Eric Baird
Marcus Cole: I spy with my little eye... something beginning with "B."
Stephen Franklin: [annoyed] Boxes.
Marcus: Fine! I spy with my little eye something beginning with "M."
Franklin: More boxes.
Marcus: Two in a row.
Franklin: "And that's when I shot him, Your Honor."
Marcus: I spy with my little eye something beginning with "E."
Franklin: I-I give up.
Marcus: Oh come on.
Franklin: This better not be what I-
Marcus and Franklin: [in unison] Even more boxes!
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
The problem with autopilots is keeping the pilots aware, alert and capable for the times when AI's fail and humans need to save the day. If the plane flies itself all the time, the pilots won't be able to handle the difficult situations as well, which is the reason you need human pilots in the first place.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
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?
Maybe pilots are bored because they are useless?
Most airline crashes are caused by a series of events and circumstances that aren't a problem alone, but add up to a serious risk. The most common one is a fatigued pilot. Pay them enough so they don't need a second job, and mandate reasonable maximum flight times. (currently the rules say a team of two pilots can be on duty for 16 hours).
kind of like the long-haul truckers expected to spend ridiculous times driving and yet still do all the corporate BS so they do it while driving.
If only they were only doing the corporate BS while driving...
Yes, and piloting was a skill and you didn't have autopilot. welcome to the age of automation.
and BTW:
A general comparison of starting monthly First Officer pay by airline*:
~ AMERICAN - $2,240
~ CONTINENTAL - $2,500
~ DELTA - $3,640
~ FED EX - $3,700
~ NORTHWEST - $2,574
~ SOUTHWEST - $3,744
~ UNITED - $1,950
~ US AIRWAYS - $1,875
~ UPS - $2,187
*all without per diem, based on minimum monthly guarantee, first year pay in smallest fleet type
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Try keeping an aircraft straight and level for hours on end, day after day. It'll drive you crazy. It certainly won't do anything for your ability to handle an emergency.
Kind of like learning to drive a car in a snowstorm... you won't learn how the car handles on a slick snow covered road by driving for hours on a dry four lane highway.
With boredom comes slow response time, and a sluggish mental process.
While there have been cases of abuse, they are very few and very far between. There really is only so much the can do.
What do you think that can do, engine maintenance?
Also, airline prices are cheap, too cheap. The airline industry needs to increase there price and service to the point they no longer need subsidies.
And if they are going to get subsidies, then the price for a flight should be fixed.
.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Here's a proposal for eliminating all distractions in the cockpit:
All personal items must be left outside the cockpit, personal clothing will be removed and replaced with hospital gowns.
I'm pretty sure that will make the aircrew pay attention to the instruments during the entire flight.
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
This is your pilot speaking. There is absolutely no cause for alarm.
*runs*
I suspect its more like driving on the Pennsylvania turnpike. One of the first large roads built, its pretty much totally straight. Most highways have some turns in them, a little something to keep you from going totally stir crazy.
When your just driving straight for hours and hours on end its very easy to drift off and loose focus.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
I think that they are forcing all the pilots to break the rules (these unreasonable rules are made to be broken).
Now they will have all the rights to say that the Pilot didn't follow the rules (by being distracted), therefore the likeliness that all accidents from now on will be classified "Pilot Error". There are around 200 plane accidents per year. After this new rule, it is very likely that the future 200 accidents will be classified as "Pilot Error".
"But, the engine fell off!"
"WAS THE PILOT PLAYING SOLITAIRE?, YES OR NO?"
"BUT THE ENGINE FELL O..."
"DID HE OR NOT?"
"Yes, but..."
"Then it is Pilot Error, he should have known better".
Unfortunately many plane crashes aren't this blatant obvious, and more likely to be blamed to the pilot. Now these rules, I think they have a new tool to blame the pilots more efficiently and avoid the steep indemnification costs.
I will frequently do little things like play games while waiting for a software install or something to help me stay focused on the task, and keep my brain from losing focus and just floating internally. I would much rather a pilot play Minesweeper or whatever, than just sort of space out on that 10 hour flight where he is just sitting there.
One never knows when one might need a rotten tomato... - King's Quest IV: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow