Question 19.22

19.22 Two warning systems. An airliner has two independent automatic systems that sound a warning if there is terrain ahead (that means the airplane is about to fly into a mountain). Neither system is perfect. System A signals in time with probability 0.9. System B does so with probability 0.8. The pilots are alerted if either system works.

  1. (a) Explain how to simulate the response of System A to terrain.

  2. (b) Explain how to simulate the response of System B.

  3. (c) Both systems are in operation simultaneously. Draw a tree diagram with System A as the first stage and System B as the second stage. Simulate 100 trials of the reaction to terrain ahead. Estimate the probability that a warning will sound. The probability for the combined system is higher than the probability for either A or B alone.