I am aware of wire cutters on helicopters, and yes, wire strike prevention with cutters would be useful, but that only solves one problem. You are correct that

I am aware of wire cutters on helicopters, and yes, wire strike prevention with cutters would be useful, but that only solves one problem. You are correct that a lot can be automated, but if there is anything that cannot be, humans have to be in the cockpit. And if humans have to be in the cockpit, then we actually don't want as much automation as possible. [1] See also [2]. The biggest problem I see with automating helicopter flight is that the hardest part of an autorotation is picking a spot to land. I don't think that can be automated. You would either have to have super high resolution radar pointed at the ground or high resolution computer vision that can identify flat spots which are as varied as the human race. I don't think either is feasible anytime soon. And that's without even considering the higher power draw they would require, as a sibling comment mentions. Then you have to consider what happens in the case of full power outage, including no battery. In that case, you have effectively doomed the people onboard if there is not a real pilot. [1]: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/airline-pilots-depend-too-much-automation-says-panel-commissioned-faa-flna2D11625301 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/airline-pilots-depend-t... [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28995841 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28995841