[cmurf]

Autopilots disconnect all the time. They can have a pretty low threshold for the conditions they’ll tolerate. Autoland can handle moderate surface winds, but pilots can handle much more. Turbulence and autopilot function is more variable. Some autopilots disconnect prematurely, others need intervention. Pilots train for these idiosyncrasies.

The computer needs reliable data. When the data is faulty, the logic fails. This happened with AF 447. One annoying aspect of that event for me is the obtuse ways the system communicated what alternate law was in effect. Two of three pilots became confused by the computers’ confusion. The computer itself had given up. The plane stalled all the way into the ocean, one of the more simple conditions to recognize and recover from. The captain quicky recognized the condition and solution, but he had arrived in the cockpit too late to compel corrective action.