Qantas Flight 32: When AI Said âNope,â Pilots Said âWowâ
On November 4, 2010, Qantas Flight 32 took off from Singapore on what Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny called the 'perfect day to go flying'âuntil engine #2 exploded like a cluster bomb, hurling 400 metal shrapnel party favors at the plane. With 21 system failures, 120 checklists, 650 broken wires, and 50% network collapses, this Airbus A380 turned into a flying Rubikâs cube of doom. The crew ignored some deadly checklists, manually fought the controls, and circled Singapore for two hours of intense 'donât blindly trust your life to the box' lessons. De Crespigny warns us that automation is less helpful co-pilot, more needy toddlerâcapable of failing spectacularly but refusing to let go. Despite the chaos, all 469 souls lived to grumble about flight delays normally. Retirement hasnât mellowed de Crespigny, who predicts sentient AI pilots in at least 30 years. Until then, thank heavens for humans ignoring autopilot like rebellious teenagers.
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Who knew 400 pieces of flying Lego in an exploding engine would reveal AI as that needy friend who âhelpsâ by making everything harder? Qantas Flight 32 pilots proved humans still hold the âignore insane checklists and save livesâ superpower.
Pilots of Qantas Flight 32 turned ignoring 'helpful' AI checklists into an extreme sport. Spoiler: Humans 469, Automation 0.
AI in planes is like that co-worker who crashes your project, then emails you the disaster reportâand wants you to fix it. Pass the manual controls.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 11/10/2025 | Author: Maggie Cai,Jessica Orwig
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