Simulator training flaws tied to airline crashes
Flaws in flight simulator training helped trigger some of the worst airline accidents in the past decade, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal accident records.
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Source: Simulator training flaws tied to airline crashes
Quote from the article:
| More than half of the 522 fatalities in U.S. airline accidents since 2000 have been linked to problems with simulators, devices that are used nearly universally to train the nation's airline pilots, the records show. Simulator training is credited with saving thousands of lives. But the problem, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) case files and safety experts, is that in rare but critical instances they can trick pilots into habits that lead to catastrophic mistakes. Last month, the NTSB blamed deficient simulator training in part for the Dec. 20, 2008, crash of a Continental Airlines jet in Denver. The Boeing 737-500 skidded off a runway at high speed and burst into flames because of the pilot's inability to steer while trying to take off in gusty cross-winds, the NTSB ruled. Six people suffered severe injuries. Investigators also found that many airline simulators, including Continental's, made such takeoffs seem far easier than in the real world. To make matters worse, the airline and its trainers were never told the simulators were inaccurate, the safety board found. "That's a problem," said Kevin Darcy, an aviation safety consultant and former chief accident investigator with Boeing. "It's really important to know how that data is programmed and where the holes are. Otherwise you are fooling yourself." |
Source: Simulator training flaws tied to airline crashes
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