Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
Apparently in this case the computer kept pushing the whole ailerons down because of the faulty sensor so the smaller ones that the pilot control to trim were overwhelmed. The more they tried to go back up the faster the computer brought them back down. Must have been a terrifying experience.
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Possibly the case. What I don't buy, is how the software ignored other information it must have known. Information such as:
-it's altitude above current ground
-It's rate of descent
-ETA until altitude above ground =0
If the plane's software coerced itself into a dive (for whatever reason), it should at least have levelled off prior to altitude >300m (or some "non-crash" value).
These algorithms consider so many variables. Little things by absolute numbers, that humans ignorantly clump together as "intelligence" or "intuition". The numbers going through that computer's code, supplied by so many sensors, would have pointed to a unacceptable resolution (<0m altitude @ >146knts, etc).
Just as they recover black boxes, it would be interesting if flight computers could be ruggedised, and recovered. Authorities could then possibly hook it into a "virtual control bus" and make it relive it's last few minutes to find the blame. Similar to the ending of the movie "Virtuosity" - make the "bad guy" think he's still in "the world", and let him play things out again.
With software playing as big a part as hardware these days, I think that's a direction we need to take. Was it drastic multi sensor error, and/or algorithm error?