American Airlines "new" 737-800 cockpit

[Chris Trott]

There is, it's call the EICAS. Unfortunately, as with many "knee-jerk" reactions and/or real world experience, such a system doesn't always work. Case-in-point was the crash I was involved in. There was no way except for the fuel gauges and the overhead (behind the pilots' head actually) controls on the Convairs to tell if you were crossfeeding. That led to multiple incidents over the years and sadly led to the loss of an aircraft and an excellent FO in 2004. The change made - a light was added to the coaming of the cockpit that comes on whenever the aircraft is configured for anything OTHER than tank-to-engine (i.e. normal) fuel feed. A similar modification has been undertaken on the Cessna 210 fleet after a number of fuel exhaustion accidents because the fuel gauges are located on the lower center panel below seat height and thus very hard to see at night and even during the day. As a result, there is a mod available to put low fuel warning lights up higher on the panel that are much more visible.

It's great to say that you should have everything in a certain location, but not always does putting things there get the proper attention it's supposed to.