Elimination
By the late 20th century, the development of increasingly more powerful and smaller Integrated circuits and advancements in digital technology have eliminated the necessity of Flight Engineers on modern airliners. The same general logic has led to the removal of the Flight Engineer position in many modern military aircraft. Flight Engineers are a rare sight today; however, older airplanes still flying today such as early model Boeing 747s, the Boeing 727, the Boeing E-3 Sentry, the Lockheed L-1011, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Tupolev Tu-154s still require Flight Engineers.
On new generation two-man deck airplanes, sensors and computers monitor and adjust systems automatically. There is no onboard technical expert and third pair of eyes. If a malfunction, abnormality or emergency occurs it will be displayed on an electronic display panel and the computer will automatically initiate corrective action to rectify the abnormal condition. One pilot (PF) does the flying, and the other pilot (PNF) will resolve the issue. The PNF has the additional workload of monitoring the PF, carrying out the requested PF commands, doing the radio work, and reading the checklists to ensure that the computer has done its job and that follow up procedures are accomplished as per checklists.
Read more about this topic: Flight Engineer
Famous quotes containing the word elimination:
“The kind of Unitarian
Who having by elimination got
From many gods to Three, and Three to One,
Thinks why not taper off to none at all.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“To reduce the imagination to a state of slavery—even though it would mean the elimination of what is commonly called happiness—is to betray all sense of absolute justice within oneself. Imagination alone offers me some intimation of what can be.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)