On Airbus vehicles, if the avionics computers crash, the airplane crashes. There's exactly ZERO way to pilot the computer manually in such a failure.
Moreover, the avionics system can and does overrule pilot input. So if you get sensor malfunctions like this, even if the pilot is trying desperately to save the plane, the computer can still crash you.
This is actually completely wrong.
Airbus aircraft have 5 control laws.
The aircraft will fall back through the different laws depending upon the level of equipment malfunctions present in the system.
The final law is called "MECHANICAL BACKUP", but even in "DIRECT LAW" (the second last fall-back law) pilot control commands are transmitted unmodified to the control surfaces, providing a direct relationship between sidestick and control surface.
The idea that a modern commercial jet liner would not allow the pilot "ZERO" control due to an avionics computer failure is, frankly, laughable.
Slashdot Mirror
On Airbus vehicles, if the avionics computers crash, the airplane crashes. There's exactly ZERO way to pilot the computer manually in such a failure. Moreover, the avionics system can and does overrule pilot input. So if you get sensor malfunctions like this, even if the pilot is trying desperately to save the plane, the computer can still crash you.
This is actually completely wrong. Airbus aircraft have 5 control laws. The aircraft will fall back through the different laws depending upon the level of equipment malfunctions present in the system. The final law is called "MECHANICAL BACKUP", but even in "DIRECT LAW" (the second last fall-back law) pilot control commands are transmitted unmodified to the control surfaces, providing a direct relationship between sidestick and control surface. The idea that a modern commercial jet liner would not allow the pilot "ZERO" control due to an avionics computer failure is, frankly, laughable.