My experience level pales in comparison with Astro and 757, but I have to agree completely with them. I've never flown into SFO, but with nearly 5 years going in and out of EWR there were numerous times that approach control gave us either a bad vector, left us well above flight path at the FAF, changed runways, or all three.
At that point, roughly 5 miles from touchdown, by the time you take the time to reprogram the FMS to do what you need to do, you will be much too high to descend to the runway in time to land. I flew a turboprop which has much less energy retention than a jet, and we were often hard pressed to make it safely to the runway.
There's no shame in going around, and if necessary a good pilot will make the decision to do so without a second thought.
I now fly single pilot in an air ambulance operation, and I can tell you that messing around with the FMS when ATC gives you a sudden change close to the airport is a recipe for disaster. Single pilot or Part 121 crew, there is very often no substitute for clicking off the autopilot and flying the airplane yourself. As Astro stated, the ability to make near instantaneous changes in maneuvering the aircraft makes a huge difference - IMO between making a safe landing and what happened to Asiana. In fact there is a point at which the autopilot should be taken off and the FMS abandoned. Obviously Asiana's crew did not recognize this moment.
Of course if you absolutely had to use the FMS/autopilot, you could get a vector away from the airport to gain the time to work the system; but taking command of the airplane and making the landing is what we are paid for. Not to mention that if you do go around, you will likely be at the tail end of a line of aircraft and number 30 for landing - which is something you may not have the fuel for.
Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
I just did this on the 777 simulator and it took all 5 seconds plus 2 seconds for the MCP change. Why is it taking you so long?
Because you knew it was coming and did not have to recognize what was happening, then make a decision, request your copilot program it and wait for him to do so.
Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
The trainer asking for more speed 7 seconds before touch down is little tough for the aircraft to do. Even with your ability I don't think you can pull it off at 7 seconds before impact. The problem started way before that last 7 seconds and this is why I believe the FMS could have save them.
This indicates to me that the trainer was heads down trying to program something, or else looking out the window rather than doing what he was supposed to be doing inside. The degradation of approach speed should have been noticed LONG before 7 seconds prior to impact.
