Ask the Pilot

Try standing next to one even at low rpm. Rotor noise becomes a factor at high rpm, but then the engine still is noisy itself. As a private pilot, small-aircraft engines are noisy as f... Among the reasons: No development at all for about two decades when the small-aircraft market was down (which is why you see so many built decades ago, then a big gap, and only in the late 1990s new developments started to come to market). Other reason, but it's part of the first one (due to the costs involved): being conservative. If you only have one engine and you have a very reliable one, that's what you keep using. Especially when the costs of developing something new and getting it approved - and you have to repeat that in different regions with different government agencies - are very high.

It is true though, when a propeller airplane flies overhead you get significantly more noise when it is directly perpendicular, when you get the most noise from the propellers.

Jet engines had a significant positive development in this area. On the small Livermore (CA) airport I had the chance to compare two small jets, an old one and a new one. The old one made me cover my ears. The new one - less noise than a Cessna, quite amazing.

In this context, an anecdote, but about noise on the inside: I always thought sitting in a glider would be quiet. It is - if you keep the little window shut. But then the cabin heats up too much (at least flying in California). I was very disappointed about my 1…

Could have been a good article promoting awareness about horrendous quality of life for most air crew but the editor just couldn't resist the horrible title and cliches about dangerous humans interfering with autopilot systems.

Automated flying isn't as cut and dry as is commonly thought, or as some of the other comments might indicate. Human error is definitely a problem and it's compounded by the realities of pilot working conditions which, unless you're a senior pilot at a major airline, means long hours and low pay. Pay (and most hours counted by regulations) is usually only counted from push-back to the gate and doesn't count hours pilots have to spend commuting, briefing, etc. This is difficult to change with the weight airlines have with the FAA and an industry where an unlimited supply of people who will suffer through anything to fly for a meager living, or in some cases even pay to work (see: "Shiny Jet Syndrome").

Autopilots fly and land extremely accurately [in the US at least, in visual conditions most landings are hand flown, and 'autolands' are done just enough as to keep up with periodic test regulation], but aren't feasible for a complete airline flight. I'm not convinced there is an automated flight management system with sufficient robustness to handle all the contingencies that have to be accounted for on a passenger flight. Drones are a completely different story. They're expendable, and get performance savings from not having life support. An…

I refer to Patrick Smith as my source[1]

The captain of the doomed flight ET302, Yared Getachew, was a graduate of the highly competitive Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy, and had more than 8,000 flight hours — a respectable total. “Yared was a great person and a great pilot. Well prepared,” a former Ethiopian Airlines training captain told me.

Doesn't sound as if he acquired his 8000 + hours on a crop duster.

In addition: Your statement that he was 28 doesn't quite jibe with what the NYT has to say about him[2]

By the time he was 29, Yared Getachew was the youngest captain at Ethiopian Airlines. Despite his relative youth, he had spent a decade with the carrier, eventually piloting wide-body jets that crossed continents and oceans.

[1] http://www.askthepilot.com/ethiopian-737max-crash/

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/business/ethiopian-airline-crash-school.html

Downvoted. Your data is terrible and should be cited. The 737Max has only been flying for 2-3 years. Southwest is irrelevant (I say as I sit on a SWA flight on the tarmac in SAN waiting for a replacement crew member). I made damn sure it wasn’t a Max (which I flew on Aeromexico twice back in September).

I have no idea where your Ethiopian stats come from because I’ve heard nothing but great things about them. Feel free to rebut.

“Or how about Ethiopian Airlines? Here is another impoverished country surrounded by rugged terrain. Yet the record of its national carrier — three fatal events, one of them a hijacking, in over seventy years of operation — is exceptional. Ethiopian is one of the proudest and arguably one of the safest airlines in the world.”

http://www.askthepilot.com/questionanswers/foreign-airline-safety/

Autopilot's role and level of capability is often grossly overstated:

(All but the last link are from Patrick Smith, a commercial pilot, author of the "Ask the Pilot" column and my go-to for debunking this particular myth)

http://www.askthepilot.com/questionanswers/automation-myths/

http://freakonomics.com/2011/12/12/cockpit-confidential-the-autopilot-myth/

http://blog.expertflyer.com/expertflyer/2011/09/ask-the-pilot-series-part-3-of-6-cockpit-automation/

http://flyingforeveryone.blogspot.com/2012/01/autopilot-myth-what-your-pilot-really.html

I'm unsure what you mean by route "safety" -- how easily autopilot could be used to automate a flight depends on weather, how busy the airports are, mechanical condition of the aircraft, etc.

It's embarrassing that Boeing is still making 737 variants. The first flight of a 737 was over 50 years ago. Yes, most of the systems have been upgraded, but it still has the same small fuselage diameter. Patrick Smith, who's flown both and writes "Ask the Pilot", complains that Boeing discontinued the 757 and continued the 737 instead of developing something better. [1] From his perspective, the 737 is underpowered, has too-high takeoff and landing speeds, and doesn't fly as well as the more modern aircraft. Boeing says they need to make at least 1500 aircraft of a new model to break even, and don't think they can sell that many of something in 737 size.

[1] http://www.askthepilot.com/757-v-737/