Can cockpit automation cause pilots to lose critical thinking skills? Research says yes

In the wake of recent airline crashes, major news networks have aired concerns about pilots' ability to accurately fly "by hand" when the airplane's cockpit automation systems fail. Although many of these concerns have centered on manual skills such as operating the airplane's controls, new human factors/ergonomics research suggests that pilots' thinking skills, such as navigating, remaining aware of the status of the flight, and diagnosing troublesome situations, are most vulnerable in today's automated cockpits. In a new study published in Human Factors, researchers studied how the prolonged use of cockpit automation negatively impacts pilots' ability to remember how to perform these key tasks.

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