here is what happened in the airbus air france incident:
- one pilot had the sidestick full hard nose up, the other full hard nose down.
- neither pilot realized what the other pilot was doing.
on a boeing airliner:
- the controls for each pilot are physically linked.
- if pilots try to put “their” yolk into an opposing position, they will start having to physically wrestle for control.
- this type of failure mode of the air france crash wouldn’t have happened in a boeing airplane; the pilots would have realized what was going on within seconds.
general note:
- when flying, it is highly unusual for both pilots to be giving input into the controls at the same time. one pilot “has the airplane”, the other is there to assist, help with the radios, planning, etc. the handoff between who “has the airplane” is very deliberate. this was another failure mode of the air france flight.
- but my point still stands, the fact that the controls are linked makes the gp point a bit moot.