Is the operational error problem a result of too much reliance by flight crews on cockpit automation? BCA received two points of view on one of aviation's more controversial subjects these days. “What we find in our contacts with the international operations community,” Dave Maloy, navigation resource specialist at the FAA's Eastern Region, reported, “is that the technology has led to complacency. 'Why do we have to do these crosschecks any more, since the technology is so good at protecting us?' crews ask us.

“Honeywell's inertial reference systems navigate only in true but display magnetic headings to pilots,” Jerry Norton reminded readers. “However, at 72.5 deg. N, they are programmed to switch to true course.” A retired avmanager at Honeywell, Norton logged considerable time piloting a Gulfstream in avionics trials in the high latitudes. Above 80 deg. N, “just like going across the Pacific,” he observed, “there are not a lot of alternates, just Barrow, Deadhorse, and Spitsbergen Island.” Norton continues to fly as a free-lance contract pilot.

Yes, Virginia, Scandinavia is part of Europe, and two of the countries featured here — Denmark and Sweden — are members of the European Union. What that means, if you're headed to either of those countries, is that your flight will come under the EU's notorious Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and taxed from point of origin to destination (i.e., not entry into EU airspace).