I agree completely; however, this is where Engineering should start and stop. If the heartbeat of the software isn't tied inextricably to the heartbeat of real people, don't call the people that work on it Engineers, and don't expect them to do any Engineering. On the other hand, start giving the people that write the plane firmware those neat iron rings[1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring (It's a Canadian thing.)