Back to School

As concern continues to mount over the ability of some cockpit crews to handle the increasingly complex computer systems in the new generation of big jets, particularly when things go wrong, Airbus has moved to revolutionise its pilot training program. TOM BALLANTYNE was among a small select group of aviation writers given an exclusive briefing on the changes in Toulouse.

Captain Christian Norden, Airbus’s director of flight operations and training support for the European planemakers’ newest passenger jet, the A350 XWB, says the company has some golden rules for pilots it trains and one of them is extremely important. “If something doesn’t go as expected, take it over manually… and that can be a real challenge for the pilots, even if they are very experienced,” he says.

The former Austrian Airlines captain was talking during a special briefing in Toulouse, outlining a radically redesigned pilot training program designed specifically for the A350 – it will enter service with Qatar Airways late this year – but which will ultimately be used to train flightdeck crews across all Airbus models. The changes come in the wake of several serious accidents and incidents over recent years in which pilots have failed to do precisely what Norden says they must do: cope with the unexpected and manually fly their aircraft instead of over-relying on their computer systems to get them out of trouble. It’s the reason why one of the key changes to Airbus training is a relatively simple one. “What do you do if you want to introduce someone to manual flying?” asks Norden. “Switch off the computers. ” In the past, pilots would have spent more than a dozen sessions learning about the aircraft’s various automated systems, and then started flying simulator sessions with the automation turned on. No more. The goal is to first “just have them feel the plane, and how it behaves” without turning on automation or presenting any complicated system failures or emergencies.