Automate… Like a Pilot | Lessons From Air France 447

In the early morning hours of 1st June 2009, Air France flight 447 was cruising at 35,000 feet, enroute from Rio de Janeiro Galeao to Paris Charles de Gaulle when the autopilot disengaged. Less than four and half minutes later, the Airbus A330 would plunge into the Atlantic Ocean with the tragic loss of the 228 souls on board. It would take two years for the flight data and cockpit voice recorders to be found and a further year for the French BEA to release the findings of their accident investigation. What they would uncover were lessons about human interaction with automated systems that are pertinent not just for pilots but for us all.