Pilots risk being seduced by technology - Emirates boss

Emirates president Tim Clark is worried pilots risk being seduced by technology and lose their flying skills as aircrafts get more advanced. Clark said while aircrafts can theoretically be flown and landed by computers, pilots still needed hands-on training to deal with a range of scenarios. ''I am very concerned about the loss of airmanship skills and I drive it home in Emirates in a very big way so I've increased the training that they do,'' he said. ''If you seduce them with these unbelievable technological platforms they think they don't have to do much.'' Like other airlines around the world, Emirates has stepped up hands-on training. ''There's an extra day twice a year for manual handling to deal with high level upsets, low speed approaches and departures with difficult situations to try and hone the skills,'' he said. <br/>