As part of its “57 seconds” series, the FAA has released a new video that offers a number of strategies to avoid controlled flight into terrain.
“More than 17% of all general aviation accidents are controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents,” FAA officials note on the video’s YouTube page. “In CFIT accidents, the aircraft is in proper working order, but it’s commonly pilot error, such as poor planning and loss of situational awareness, that leads to a CFIT accident.”
While the airplane maybe working correctly in some respects in CFIT the question begs what role does technology failures have in CFIT. American Airlines 1340 in February 1998 is a classic example where the NTSB blamed the pilot, after all pilots should not crash into the ground, when there clearly was a known deficiency in the technology of the airplane , specifically the autopilot.
To this date there is no NTSB category that identifies the technology as the culprit for CFIT. After all pilots should not crash into the ground and it is easier to call it pilot error. But that does not enhance safety.
When the airplane is flown into part of the flight envelope that does not allow a pilot to hand fly and technology is required to fly the airplane, if the technology does not perform as required, who is to blame for CFIT?