Quote:
Originally Posted by cartman
What I don't get is if the FMS wasn't changed, and there was an event that incapacitated the crew, I don't see how the plane would continue flying at a consistent altitude and path with no one at the controls and the auto-pilot off for several hours.
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We were saying earlier that if it had been reprogrammed prior to the hand-off that would change everything. It would suggest prior intent to act on something. If they back off of that now it brings the idea of an emergency back into the fold.
The FMS was absolutely changed. But the timing of it is now in question. The points can be pre-programmed at any time. In an emergency you would set up the plane to fly where you wanted it to go while to paid attention to other things. Remember a pilot's priority is to fly the plane, then navigate, then communicate. Sometimes #1 and #2 are all you can do and you never get to #3. It does happen though, we do it in the sim quite a bit.
Say the plane get's all set up and you are trying to fix the emergency and are suddenly incapacitated. The plane will fly its last heading/power setting forever. They had a lot of fuel. It's conceivable.