(7 marks) Explain what “Automation Complacency” is.  Describe its effect on human operators.  Give an example of automation complacency from the film “Why Planes Crash”.

(7 marks) Explain what “Automation Complacency” is.  Describe its effect on human operators.  Give an example of automation complacency from the film “Why Planes Crash”.

 

From the notes, automation complacency refers to a situation where operators overtrust the automation.  (1 mark)

They fail to monitor it vigilantly enough and

become less aware of the state of the system

they are slower to detect problems

and less able to intervene in a problem (de-skilling) (4 marks)

An example from the film is when the pilots focus on the burned out lightbulb.  They assume the plane is in autopilot and stop monitoring the altitude.  By the time they realize the plane has descended too much they are unable to intervene.  (2 marks)