Commenting on the operational and safety limitations faced by pilots during long-haul flights, SMU Assistant Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship (Education) Terence Fan agreed that it is difficult for pilots to monitor all conditions across a long flight. He said that because the flight is very long, the crew may not be monitoring conditions every minute, as they also need to focus on the instrumentation and route planning, and may not be able to scan everything at all times. Asst Prof Fan said the airline could not be faulted for missing the earlier radar defects, as their frequency fell below the threshold of three incidents in 10 days and had not resulted in any adverse outcomes. In the case of SQ321 and similar radar issues on Boeing 777, he said that given that this has happened, it certainly makes sense to do a bit more testing.
