Why do pilot's need to take 5yrs of training to fly a plane, WHEN THEY CAN PUT THE PLANE ON AUTO PILOT??

Show all answers

123dildo

maby d auto pilot button is hard 2 find??????

Fatty

Your name says it all

Steven H

It takes a lot of skill to fly an airplane. The autopilot does what the pilots tell it to do, it does not actually know what is going on and what to do. The autopilot wont fly around weather by itself, the autopilot wont fly a plane with only one engine working, the autopilot wont put out an engine fire, the autopilot wont land the plane with gear problems, the autopilot wont dive to avoid another plane. The autopilot cant make the quick life saving decisions pilots have to make. Autopilots cant takeoff either, they can land, but there is a lot of things you have to do to make the certain autopilots which can land accomplish a safe landings. Also the autopilot does not know the thousands of different regulations and rules there are in the sky.
To be a pilot for a major US airline you need more than 6 years or training, it might only be 4-5 years but to be a pilot for a major US airline you need at least 4,500 hours of flight time with 1,000 of these hours being Pilot in command on a Turbine aircraft.
Pilots are the most well trained and professional people out there. Failure is not an option for any pilot. Every pilot will find them selves in a life threating situation once or twice in their career but most of the time the situation ends safely because of the professionalism, organization skills, self confidence and even a little bit of bravery it takes to become a pilot.
There is a little saying in Aviation that there is no such thing as a bad pilot. Why? Because all the bad pilots are dead.

tastoller

Auto Pilot on an airplane is similiar to Cruise control on a car, BUT airplaines being more complicated Auto Pilot is also more complicated. It does not do everything. 5 Years of training may not even be correct. some airlines require a certain time of experience. People can learn to fly in 6 months, but bigger and more complicated airplanes require more training. Auto pilot does not do everything, it just locks in the current flight settings.

The_Mouse

Take offs and landings can not be done by autopilots. There are so many variables and possible unforeseeable occurences that only a human can make quick judgement when they occur.

Also, if something happens during flight, the auto pilot can not make any decision what to do (does it find the closest airport ot land? Does it need to shut down one of the engine? does it simply need to slow down? Or does it need to turn around?)

That is a simplistic answer. There are alot more reasons to this which I am sure have been covered by others who know about the technical stuff of flying way more than me.

[deleted]

Why do they even need a pilot then?

Machines are not fully trusted with the lives of 400 people...yet.

murkeee

when the auto pilot fails, someone needs to take over manually. that's why you need pilots. they need to be trained not only to fly the plane but also to try and understand the mechanics: i.e. say the the plane slows down they try to understand why this is

chios78

In addition to what has already been said. The take off and landing is the hardest and most dangerous part of any flight. No Auto Pilot can do that yet.

Flame

for when the auto pilot fails lol

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: