Well this is where I think autonomous planes would be superior. First off they could make determinations on their own, the old have three or more computers maki

Well this is where I think autonomous planes would be superior. First off they could make determinations on their own, the old have three or more computers making decisions and voting, as well as be constantly updating and receiving from ground stations. This can be vital in a situation where the computer decides it no longer trusts its own inputs. It all comes down to this, it won't be solved quickly, but with proper flight routing and use of specialized airports it can all be resolved without endangering the public. For the most part planes are not falling out of the sky on a regular basis but it would be interesting to see statistics on the number of registered events per miles flown. Human ATC could still be involved, the words used for events can be very specific and the system can know how to respond to all of this. Automated flights would have special call signs and even may end up handled by assigned ATC to keep them separate.