Ceren Özbay
150221016
ENG106-04
Investigating Autopilot Controlling Systems
Aviation is the fastest growing area of our age. It has huge content such as ground duties, manufacturing airplanes, training pilots, human and cargo transport, military applications etc. It is impossible to mention all of its contents at the same instant. One can say most important tasks are up to pilots. Since whatever the application is, during the flight envelope pilots controls any kind of flying vehicle that makes them the heart of aviation actually. But such important tasks cannot be given just two people and it is also inefficient to add much more pilots to cabin crew. So a new solution is required to help pilots during flight. That need is the main idea behind…show more content… The autopilots are good pilots for known situations. They cannot make their own decisions. On that point, the autopilots only do what their creators or pilots tell them to do. That system pursues the route of flight which route defined at the beginning of flight. That may compel people to think what happens if an unknown situation appears when an autopilot controlling the aircraft. Actually, the answer is horrifying because it mostly ends up with an air disaster. In this study defining autopilot controlling systems and also its advantages and disadvantages of autopilots…show more content… Every machine can do mistakes and it may be caused because of its design or failures during operation. They must be checked before and after every flight also even during the flight. So there must always be people in the aircraft who checks all the systems. “Aviation regulations vary between countries, but in the U.S., at least two crew members must remain in the cockpit at all times. From a flying perspective, the pilot or the copilot must remain at the controls to keep an eye on the computer to make sure everything is running smoothly.” (Nasr, 2015). Autopilots can and do fail. Autopilots for manned aircraft are designed as a failsafe operator. If it faces a problem during the flight envelope, the flight can be dangerous. If gadget in the system fails the monitor sends a warning signal. After warning signal the pilots must not engage the automatic flight control system if they cannot manage to disengage the automatic flight control system, the airplane might crash and it causes terrifying results such as big casualties. Looking from a different point of view if pilot switches manual mode there can be a chance for accident prevention. Pilots trained to fly safely while using the autopilot. It takes necessary action in case of error situation.” In 2009, the autopilot malfunctioned in Air France flight 447. All 228 passengers and cabin crew aboard were killed. In 2013, a UPS cargo jet crashed in Alabama, Birmingham