The Autopilot System

The system I am choosing to write about is autopilot (or the automated flight control system that allows for automatic control of aircraft pitch, yaw and roll movements while in level flight or while on a set course). Autopilot can greatly assist a pilot in reducing workload to help them focus on other flight duties as well as in increasing SA (situational awareness). 

When the autopilot system has failed there will be an indication in the cockpit to the CAS (crew alerting system) which monitors hundreds of aircraft systems at a given time. Autopilot also has a disengagement that can be operated automatically or manually.  

Some of the common failures of the autopilot system are electrical power failures, internal failure of the autopilot system and altitude and heading references system failures as well as servo failure.  

Some of the impacts of autopilot systems failures have been felt across the aviation industry with a few of the more widely known cases and investigations being the release of the Boeing 737 Max. 

 Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes lead to the death of 346 people. Which was due to a sensor failure in the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System which aids in flight stabilization. 

Some of the regulations implemented into current day aviation is to exclude the use of autopilot in conditions other than stable flight. Autopilot has also been designed so that it can be overpowered by pilots when necessary. Unfortunately, there is never a 100% guarantee to prevent the failure of a system although drawing back on how reliant a pilot is of any automated system will help increase situational awareness and help in mitigating a system failure into an overall catastrophic failure.  

References

Federal Aviation Administration. (2012). Chapter 7-8. In Risk management handbook: FAA-H-8083-2 (pp. 77–78). essay, Skyhorse.

Federal Aviation Adminastration. (2022). Chapter 6 Flight Controls. In Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (pg. 12). essay, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service.

Federal Aviation Adminastration. (1997, March 18). AC 120-67 - federal aviation administration. Federal Aviation Adminatration. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_120-67.pdf

National Transportation Safety Board. (2019, September 19). Accident Number: DCA19RA017 / DCA19RA101. Investigation report. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/Reports.aspx

The Federal Register. (1998, August 12). 14 CFR § 29.1329 - automatic pilot system. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/29.1329