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I thought most of plane take off, flight, and landing were automated long ago... ? [sorry, should have done more googling: https://www.flightdeckfriend.com/can

I thought most of plane take off, flight, and landing were automated long ago... ? [sorry, should have done more googling: https://www.flightdeckfriend.com/can-a-plane-land-automatically https://www.flightdeckfriend.com/can-a-plane-land-automatica... seems to say auto-land is there (but used very little) and no auto-takeoff]

Avicebron 6y ago
It has been, but there is still a strong incentive to have a human in semi-control for contingencies
- outworlder 6y ago
  Not only that, but it's free training. This helps keep pilots sharp and current. If autoland fails it could be that there's something else going wrong with the aircraft(ranging from a faulty sensor to something more serious). Now you have a pilot with degraded proficiency trying to land in an unusual condition. This impairs safety.
alistairSH 6y ago
I believe the A320 has some auto land capability. Not a pilot, so don't know the details, but based on Youtube, it appears the pilot has to do some configuration on approach (line up the plane to some extent, set engines appropriately, etc).
cachvico 6y ago
Yep, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_landing_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_landing_system It does require hardware on the runway though.
- jeffreyrogers 6y ago
  This is for landing without visual contact with the runway (i.e. instrument flight conditions), typically the pilot is still controlling the aircraft, and looking at an instrument that tells him/her how to adjust the controls, although many aircraft can land automatically using these same systems.
nexuist 6y ago
There are other people talking about autoland, but it's actually meant to line the aircraft up with the runway and gently glide it down, and then the pilot deactivates it around 200-300ft off the ground to flare. It's not meant to perform the entire landing sequence autonomously. Autoland doesn't flare by itself, so while it can safely land the aircraft, it will cause a ton of stress on the landing gear that adds up to more frequent downtime for repairs.
- vultour 6y ago
  Now that's just completely wrong. Airliners had full automatic landing capability for a long time, it's very often used when there's zero visibility at the destination airport.

Avicebron 6y ago

It has been, but there is still a strong incentive to have a human in semi-control for contingencies

outworlder 6y ago
Not only that, but it's free training. This helps keep pilots sharp and current. If autoland fails it could be that there's something else going wrong with the aircraft(ranging from a faulty sensor to something more serious). Now you have a pilot with degraded proficiency trying to land in an unusual condition. This impairs safety.

alistairSH 6y ago

I believe the A320 has some auto land capability. Not a pilot, so don't know the details, but based on Youtube, it appears the pilot has to do some configuration on approach (line up the plane to some extent, set engines appropriately, etc).

cachvico 6y ago

Yep, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_landing_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_landing_system It does require hardware on the runway though.

jeffreyrogers 6y ago
This is for landing without visual contact with the runway (i.e. instrument flight conditions), typically the pilot is still controlling the aircraft, and looking at an instrument that tells him/her how to adjust the controls, although many aircraft can land automatically using these same systems.

nexuist 6y ago

There are other people talking about autoland, but it's actually meant to line the aircraft up with the runway and gently glide it down, and then the pilot deactivates it around 200-300ft off the ground to flare. It's not meant to perform the entire landing sequence autonomously. Autoland doesn't flare by itself, so while it can safely land the aircraft, it will cause a ton of stress on the landing gear that adds up to more frequent downtime for repairs.

vultour 6y ago
Now that's just completely wrong. Airliners had full automatic landing capability for a long time, it's very often used when there's zero visibility at the destination airport.