Even prior to FBW, aircraft which had been vacated by their pilots contentedly cruised on with a big hole in the roof. A Hunter was abandoned by its RAF pilot

Even prior to FBW, aircraft which had been vacated by their pilots contentedly cruised on with a big hole in the roof. A Hunter was abandoned by its RAF pilot in the 1960s and proceeded to land itself on the runway, whilst a MiG-23 and a Harrier flew without their drivers until fuel exhaustion in the 1980s.