Personally, I only allowed students to use it on a long cruise portion, and even then only once. Other than demonstrating and doing a couple of approaches with the autopilot, they never touched the thing.

Pilots play with lives by flying manually for 'ultimate kick'

Soaring in the sky, pilots at times switch off the automation instruments in the cockpit to fly the aircraft manually. Sounds bizarre! The truth is that they do it to get that 'ultimate kick'. In the process, they compromise on passenger safety.

Though 'raw data flying' (the technical term for manual flying) is not prohibited, pilots are not exposed to manual flying, which is normally carried out only on a simulator.

It is done to train pilots in case the computerised systems in the cockpit fail.

Pilots of various airlines have been found violating the parameters of standard flying procedures.

While a senior commander of a private airline admitted that pilots do go for 'raw data flying', Air India director (flight safety) has gone a step ahead and issued a circular cautioning the pilots.

The Air India circular stated that there were cases of 'parameter excedence' and advised pilots to stick to the standard operating procedures.

There have been more than 40 incidents when flying parameters were breached, said an official familiar with monitoring flight data recorders (FDR).

The FDRs, which store flight data including the ways in which the pilots handle aircraft instruments, are regularly monitored by senior airline officers to analyse whether pilots have been following flying rules.

In case a breach is noticed, the pilots are summoned and counselled to ensure that passenger safety is not compromised.

About two- three years ago, an Indian Airlines aircraft had deviated from its flight path and moved towards the Rashtrapati Bhawan prompting the official carrier to issue an alert. The incident happened because the co-pilot was flying manual.

An Air India pilot admitted that during 'raw data flying', parameters have been violated.

For example, while landing at the IGI airport, the normal rate of descent of an aircraft should be around 700 ft per minute. But it could shoot up to 2000 ft per minute during manual handling, thereby endangering passenger safety, the pilot stated.

This then sets off a chain reaction putting the pilot under tremendous psychological pressure.

In the panic-like situation, the pilot might find it difficult to simultaneously adjust parameters like direction and altitude for a safe landing, he said.

And then there is the possibility that instead of landing at position 'A' the aircraft might land at place 'B', or instead of runway 29, at runway 27, he explained. In case of automated flying, computers do these jobs for the pilot.

At times, the passengers may never get to know about the violation and it is the air traffic control which pitches in to guide the pilot for a safe landing.

An air traffic controller pointed out "there have been instances of level busts and sudden rates of descent and climb were noticed which weren't desirable". Former DGCA Kanu Gohain said, "Raw data flying can't be banned. It is part of the training and if pilots are violating the parameters, they should be counselled and sent for corrective training". Capt A. Ranganathan, an aviation expert, stated that manual flying should be normally tried on simulators.

"It can be practised once in a while at airports with low air traffic density but certainly not at busy airports such as Mumbai or Delhi," Ranganathan said.

A senior commander of a private airline said 'raw data flying' should be done rarely since passenger safety is involved.

"But the pilots should also be comfortable with manual flying, what if the onboard computers fail," he said. He also conceded that manual flying should be tried on simulators as at times things could really go out of hand.

Aviation experts pointed out that the purpose of complete automation was to enhance safety features, besides saving the pilot from fatigue or any other distractions and making the cockpit less crowded.

The automation inside the cockpit includes flight director, auto thrust and auto pilot, the job of which is to direct flight, control climb, descent, direction, speed and other aspects.

A senior instructor pilot admitted that younger pilots pester them for 'raw data flying' while some seniors flaunt their skills by completely switching off automation.