Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip Argy
I think the aggregated pilot input issue was the subject of an episode of Air Crash Investigation but I thought I read somewhere that Airbus had changed the software to give priority to the left hand joy stick if both joysticks were in active use. Does anyone here know more about that?
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No, they average/total the two stick positions, eg, if you literally push one stick all the way forwards and the other all the way back nothing will happen to the flight path of the plane - But you
do get an aural & visual warning that you have dual control inputs.
One pilot can take full control by pushing & holding the red button down on their stick and about 1.5 seconds later that stick is the only one controlling the plane. An aural advisory "prority left/right" comes up when that happens.
There's ways to regain dual control but I can't remember the details sorry.
Apparently the reason the sticks aren't mechanically connected is because Airbus was worried that if one pilot fell unconcious on their stick the other pilot would not be able to control the plane adequately. However I still think this is perhaps one of the most daft things I've ever seen on a plane.