Do pilots fly on autopilot?

Autopilot is a method by which an aircraft is made to fly by itself and not necessarily need the command of pilots most of the time. Technological enhancement of autopilot has greatly improved over the decades though it is today highly developed. That is a norm on almost all commercial flights as it assists in lightening the workload of the pilots. Nevertheless, autopilot does not mean that the airplane is flown by a machine, causing the absence of a human pilot. Managers also need to consider the fact that many things automated systems cannot do at the moment: that is why it is important to rely on human judgment, skill, and oversight to a certain extent.

How Often Do Pilots Make Use of the Autopilot?

In the cruise phase of flights, pilots were consistent in using autopilot most of the time. This makes it possible for a flight to maintain its course in a steady manner along the planned path without the pilots having to be bothered by having to use their hands to control the airplane at every given time. Nonetheless, it is crucial to understand that autopilot is always under the control of the pilots, and it may be modified or deactivated whenever necessary.

For example, it is estimated that autopilot operation is employed about 90 percent of the time throughout the cruising phase of airliner flights. However, that does not mean the pilots are not maneuvering the plane through the clouds during this period. They still have to observe the flight from top to bottom and intervene where it is necessary, including reporting to air traffic control.

One major aspect that still needs to be done manually is take-offs and landings of airplanes.

In general, autopilot is a very valuable tool, especially during the steady-state flight when the airplane’s condition is relatively stable, however, takeoffs and landing are situations when a pilot has to rely on controlling the airplane manually. These phases of flight are too dynamic, too filled with permutations, for one to wish to leave them in the hands of technology. It implies that pilots must be involved in the actual flying of the aircraft, especially during take-offs and landings, to address this issue.

However, it is important to note that some of today’s commercial airplane models do contain features that allow them to perform a takeoff on their own. This is because it enables them to attain high velocities on the runway and also take off automatically. However, there is a limit to this, and the pilots will always assume full control of the automatic system as soon as the plane is in the air.

The last part of the flight known as the final approach and landing also has to be done by the pilots without any assistance or support of the system. It must be noted that there are indeed AutoLand systems that can be used to land airplanes on their own. However, these entail specialized aircraft equipment as well as airport facilities and infrastructure. It means that it can only be applied in certain circumstances that it is almost impossible to make a manual landing such as poor weather conditions or the pilot’s disability.

Pilots or airline dispatchers should know how to fly the airplane manually at any given time.

Although automation enhances flight utilization and security drastically, it has drawbacks as the pilots may lose their Manual flying capabilities if they over-rely on the autopilot mechanism. The software controlling such operations must have a backup in case of automation failure, and the flight crew should be prepared to assume the operation.

That is why aviation regulations make it mandatory for commercial pilots to undertake several flights to do manual take-offs and or landings from time to time to develop and exercise these crucial piloting techniques. It is also necessary to have frequent practice of manual control during other phases of flight when it is not required to be used. Airlines and pilots understand that it is imperative to strike a delicate between the practical application of technology and the maintenance of control of the stick.

This suggests that automation cannot replace human judgment in screening the candidates since the process involves the comparison of two objects, namely the candidate and the preconceived standards.

High as the aircraft automation of the present day is, it is still not as wise as that of a human pilot who has flown many times. Therefore, we must understand that autopilot systems are limited in their capabilities since they can only perform tasks based on what has been pre-coded or designed to do. It raises many issues that have rather fuzzy contexts that can only be effectively managed with distinctly human judgment. For example:

• Fluctuating climatic environment

• Unexpected mechanical issues

• some disturbances that are beyond the airplane’s pilot or controller from the air traffic control center.

• Abnormal passenger situations

  Once enabled though, automation is at its best, but only human pilots can determine when that automation indeed needs to be engaged, modulated, or released. In other words, humans have to be in control of setting the goals the constraints and the overrides to be applied to the system. While automation has a significant impact on safety, all current conditions should be skillfully evaluated, which automated systems cannot complete.

  This paper will focus on the future of cockpit automation and how cockpit automation can offer the best means to support pilots.

  As evidenced in the preceding discussion, the automation of flights will most certainly progress in the aspect of commercial aviation. Some of them have envisaged the ultimate goal of having a flight crew with only one pilot, with much help from advanced, highly reliable automation systems. That future vision is still not fully automated though since it still keeps onboard human control and responsibility for key phases and choices in each flight.

  Almost all pilots and flight engineers have claimed that it is impossible to automate everything and human factors such as situational awareness, decision-making, flexibility and ability to cope with contingencies are always going to remain an important part of flying. These cognitive capacities are extremely challenging, arguably, close to being almost impossible to mimic through technology. As for repetitive operations that can be eventually scripted and turned into a set of programmed solutions, human pilots appear guaranteed to retain authority in non-routine situations that call for new and intricate assessments.

  Thus, it remains evident that in almost all conceivable situations, automation will remain instrumental in helping pilots and not replace them. This means the use of autopilot will always be done with strict adherence to the need to ensure crews are always able to manually fly the aircraft should the need arise. Maintaining routine use of hand-flying and efficiency, all pilots will be prepared to lightly grab the flight controls whenever required for safety. Automated systems improve capacity but the human operator still has accountability in the flight deck.