Hacker News Reader

Honestly, part of the mistake is also on Dubois. When flying as a team, it is essential to establish hierarchy and make sure who has authority. As the one with the lesser number of hours, Bonin should have been relegated in favor of Robert. That being said, hierarchy should not be as much of an obstacle that the one in authority disregards the suggestions of the copilot.

View on HN

Bonin in his panic hit his priority button to take back control but didn't say he was taking back control. He should have announced he has the controls - and it is obvious knowledge to pilots that flight behavior us from the averaged stick inputs. But only when they know both are handling flight surfaces.

If a pilot stubbornly wants to keep control maybe out of desperation or panic - and performs actions which are counterfactual to the knowledge of aerodynamics every pilot is taught, there is no instrument system which can salvage this catastrophe.

["Bonin acted like an idiot" - not my words, but two of my CFI friends, who discuss aviation topics on weekends often over beers.]

Bonin was an idiot, I agree. But Dubois should have established a clear hierarchy to prevent the idiot getting control over Robert.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com