Too Much Technology?

I first became a flight instructor in the U.S. Army in 1967. For the next 30 years, not very much changed in aircraft cockpits from a technological standpoint. Throughout aviation history, even today, the first rule every pilot must follow is “fly the aircraft.” The second cardinal rule is “to see and avoid” other aircraft. In the 1980s, a new device called Global Positioning Systems (GPS) started becoming common in aircraft cockpits. When that occurred, I and my fellow flight instructors began to notice a disturbing trend; pilots were diverting their attention from “see and avoid” to following the GPS indications.