ABSTRACT
The most common question in modem cockpits is reported to be •'What's it doing now?" There are anecdotal reports of pilots turning the automated system off when air traffic control (A TC) changes the landing runway because it's easier to do without the "help" from the automation than to reprogram it.*
Cockpit automation has come under fire recently because of a series of operational incidents.( J-2)t Mode confusion was reported to be a serious problem by the NTSB. Increasing mode complexity is prompting one operator to modify its current flight management systems (FMSs) to reduce the number of operating modes.
