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Comment by wdrw | Hacker News Reader

It is amazing that in this day and age, instructions from the ATC are still spoken, not texted. (Does anyone here know if the ATC computer keeps track of the target flight level, heading, etc? If so, these instructions could probably be texted at a push of a button in addition to the spoken words. The aircraft's avionics could then be smart and alert the pilots if they're doing something different.)

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Well, it is not amazing at all, as a pilot most of the time I am looking out and over the instruments, not reading texts. Even the cockpit scan is just a scan, not enough to read more than a number at a time. The radio is at a press of the finger on the stick, typing back and forth is not. Also talking is much faster than typing.

You could still duplicate the verbal instruction in a (computer-readable) text, and then have an automated alert for any deviation from the texted instructions. Also, on big commercial flights with multiple pilots, could one of the pilots have more time to verify texted information? (I thought I heard something about a communicator/navigator role). And doesn't the ATC controller already have to type in the information into the ATC computer? I'm suggesting an automated message, not literally a human typing a text.

There were in the past roles for a navigator and even a mechanic on board of airliners, but they were removed a long time ago. Now all the work is done by the 2 people in the cockpit and there is plenty for both in the take off, approach and landing phases.

I am not even sure where to put just another display in the cockpit that is already overcrowded. Or two displays, one for each station. Maybe it can be squeezed, but the efficiency may be zero or negative. Just imagine a plane is far more complicated than a car, having hundreds or instruments, gauges, buttons and lights. Even learning how to use all these takes tens of hours, adding more you can create an nightmare from a bad situation.

LE. There may be some solution, especially for modern digital cockpits, but there are hundreds of thousands of planes without a digital cockpit and with no way to upgrade them - they are not computers with standard interconnects like PCI, USB, COM and LPT ports, most smaller planes don't even have a standard cockpit layout and set of instruments. For example I piloted a few small planes of the same make and model, there were no two alike in the cockpit equipment.

I think IFR clearance is already displayed as texts in the cockpit?

https://www.aviationtoday.com/2014/12/01/tcpdlc-transitionin...

Clearance can be sent via ACARS, but you deal with it while parked on the ground. It would be much different getting messages to change altitude, heading, and/or speed every few seconds that have to be acted upon immediately while executing an approach.

What did the onboard mechanics do? Just help assess and understand the mechanical condition of the airplane?

Not really sure about that, a distant family member was a mechanic onboard AN-24 plane and was killed in a crash in 1995; I never met him personally, just his widow, I never had the chance to ask him questions about his job.

Talking is faster than typing, but reading is MUCH faster than talking/listening.

I wonder if hotkeying textual radio commands would give a good experience.

This would make it impossible to fight the yoke of your Boeing Max 8 and communicate with ATC at the same time.

Hahaha true

...iff that's the only thing on your hands. From the essentials (Aviate, Navigate, Communicate), this comes last.

Slowly but surely the system is moving towards an additional layer of communication using text. The system is CPDLC.

The major issue with using it exclusively is that anything outside of ordinary canned messages takes time to type and that’s often exactly the time you do not have time.

Go back to the Miracle on the Hudson. Their radio transmissions are very brief and concise because they are extremely busy in the cockpit. They definitely didn’t have time to fiddle with a tiny keyboard to transmit all of that information.

I think text is going to be a very important layer in the future but it will never completely replace voice transmissions.

So what's needed is a hybrid voice/text system. Preferably languge-agnostic on the text/data part.

Text for the 99.9% normal things, voice for the 0.1%.

After listening to ATC recordings between e.g. JFK and Air China pilots I have no idea how major accidents don't happen every week.

For reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NDqZy4deDI

Transmitting text from ATC would also be able to have checksums which are then played by an automated voice. Pilots would become accustomed to the automated voice, as opposed to varying accents

Regardless, if you think "I have no idea how major accidents don't happen every week" then it's likely because you don't recognize how much what you're referencing is an outlier, or you're disregarding what else mitigates issues

Thanks for finding a link to that infamous recording.

I think a hybrid scheme could work well. Transmit data in text, greetings via voice. Make sure to do the greetings every time, just to make sure people are used to using voice, for when the emergencies happen.

> Regardless, if you think "I have no idea how major accidents don't happen every week" then it's likely because you don't recognize how much what you're referencing is an outlier, or you're disregarding what else mitigates issues

You do realize you are commenting on a story that's about.. exactly that?

I'm sure something nice could be built with frequency pairs: one for voice, one for data.

It should be possible to build something backwards compatible. Use processes to fall back to voice for when data is lacking, etc.

Voice has a really strong advantage for coordinating complex tasks: it keeps your hands and eyes on the work itself.

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