4 ms·

Today, it seems like the bulk of the pilot's job is to get the plane in the air and then get it back on the ground. In 10 years, are we going to be at the point

by bprater 15y ago

Today, it seems like the bulk of the pilot's job is to get the plane in the air and then get it back on the ground. In 10 years, are we going to be at the point where a pilot's job is completely redundant? (Or maybe a fleet of planes is handled by a small group of "ground" pilots?)

emehrkay 15y ago
Didnt the FAA just state that unmanned aerial vehicles will be flying around general airspace by 2014?
- potatolicious 15y ago
  AFAIK "unmanned" at this point doesn't mean "pilotless" - you still have a full-time pilot, just not on board the aircraft proper. It seems pilot jobs are safe... for now.
  - iRobot 15y ago
    No Pilot = No Hijakers ... unless your a good hacker of course ;-)
    - jff 15y ago
      That's actually a damn good reason to avoid remote control of passenger airplanes. All it takes is a nice worm in the network... By comparison, maintaining physical cockpit security is extremely easy: lock the door, and shoot anyone who tries to force it.
    - aidenn0 15y ago
      I hear Iran has a few.
joshwa 15y ago
Go read the AF 447 accident report and you'll see why humans are both the weakest link and still completely necessary. Sensors fail.
- kooshball 15y ago
  one of the articles covering it here. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/crashes/what-really-happened-aboard-air-france-447-6611877 http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/crashes/... give me chills every time i read it
- CamperBob 15y ago
  Correction: crappy, inadequately-redundant sensors fail.
  - chronomex 15y ago
    Everything fails, if given enough chances to do so.