VOA标准英语2013--美国联邦航空局建议飞行员不要过分依赖自动化

 

FAA Study Issues Recommendations to Correct Pilot Overreliance on Automation 美国联邦航空局建议飞行员不要过分依赖自动化

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has released a comprehensive study that says airline pilots are relying too much on automation - which could lead to dangerous  situations. The findings are in line with what Voice of America first reported in August regarding the crash of an Asiana Airlines plane in San Francisco. Details of  the new study has implications for travelers worldwide.

Aviation experts call it automation addiction¹, an overreliance on the computerized flying of passenger jets. But that same technology has helped make airline travel  safer than ever. The report by the Federal Aviation Administration agrees with that, but says pilots are not as skilled at manually flying a plane in emergencies or  when transitioning back from automation to manual.

VOA first reported "automation addiction” as a possible issue in July's crash of an Asiana jetliner. The Boeing 777 hit a seawall in San Francisco as the pilots were  attempting a typical manual approach. The crash killed three and injured more than 180.  

Vic Hooper flew as a captain with Asiana until two years ago. He said his first officers preferred to fly on autopilot rather than manually. “Sometimes, I would push  them a little bit beyond what they had done. Like I’d try to get them to fly a visual approach. They were very uncomfortable with that,” he said.

“We call that culture “children of magenta²,” said former pilot trainer Ross Aimer, referring to the magenta color that highlights the route on the high tech  instrument panel.

“There are times where an experienced pilot should be able to totally disconnect all the technology and go back to the basics,” said Ross "Rusty³" Aimer, a former  pilot trainer.

The report found that in one-fourth of the crashes studied, the pilots were overconfident in the automation and sometimes deferred⁴ to it, rather than interrupting it.  It pointed⁵ to what it called an "erosion of manual flying skills" that could get worse in the future.

John McGraw said it's something we can all relate to. He spent 17 years with the FAA and is now an airline consultant⁶.

“If you watch how people drive today, with all the automated⁷ systems they have in cars, some people can manage and some can’t, and they are doing that with no  training,” said McGraw.

The report recommends more manual flying, and especially training for rare events. But simulator training costs money and takes pilots away from flying the plane - the  revenue maker⁸ for airlines.

Michael Huerta, who leads the FAA, said, "With technology that we now have available to us in flight simulators, we are able to very, very significantly enhance  training."

The report looked at 26 crashes worldwide until 2009 - no recent ones, like the Asiana crash.  

The NTSB contacted VOA after our Asiana story aired and interviewed the pilots featured in our series. The board will hold hearings on the crash in December and  release its findings sometime after that.

1 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

2 magenta   

n..紫红色（的染料）；adj.紫红色的

参考例句：

• In the one photo in which she appeared, Hillary Clinton wore a magenta gown.在其中一张照片中，希拉里身着一件紫红色礼服。
• For the same reason air information is printed in magenta.出于同样的原因，航空资料采用品红色印刷。

3 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

4 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

7 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。