Why do you need to press so many buttons to start a plane? Can’t there be just one button to start everything in sequence automatically?
In: Technology
When you start a car, the twist of a key actually automatically activates many separate systems. First it powers the electrical system to many critical components. Fuel pump. Engine control unit. Ignition system. Then if you continue twisting the key it engages the starter motor, and starts the engine. You release the key and all of the systems keep the engine running.
In an aircraft all of these critical flight systems are isolated on different switches, and often have multiple backups (fuel pumps, ignition systems, hydraulics, air pressure, different sources of power for the electrical system, totally separate electrical systems). There is a redundancy and level of safety here that lets a pilot troubleshoot and select or de-power systems individually in the event of a failure while in flight or on the ground. Hence the complexity of starting. It requires a certain order of operation to bring everything online to start a plane.
EDIT: Some seriously good discussion here about aircraft. A couple of points to make. Are we talking about starting the engines only, or taking an aircraft from cold and dark to ready to taxi? I agree that FADEC systems allow an automated start. But even then you still have to at least turn on the battery master. And even if the aircraft could be fully automated, that wouldn’t preclude the need to check and verify that everything is working and set appropriately. Also, automated systems are their own system that needs to be monitored with the possibility of failure (MCAS). I’m not making an argument one way or another, thanks for the discussion.
EDIT 2- One final comment guys. Many people have said this, and I will agree. A fully automated, one touch button start aircraft, complete with systems integrity monitoring is technically possible. And in small drones you can actually find this technology today. The question is, is this acceptable, is this safe, and how can we determine the risk going forward. Commercial air travel is by far the safest method of travel in the world today. It’s a really really high bar to even meet. Getting technology to match that level could be coming in the future, but it’s going to be a long and slow implementation.
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