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Curious as to why autopilot isn't being used to land planes yet. My understanding is that pilots can choose to use it to land, but only do so when visibility i

Curious as to why autopilot isn't being used to land planes yet. My understanding is that pilots can choose to use it to land, but only do so when visibility is very low. (ex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOFs-oa-bbc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOFs-oa-bbc)

cpncrunch 13y ago
The autopilot requires the ILS to land the plane. If the ILS is inoperative, it can't autoland. However pilots do still land planes to keep their skills honed.
- vl 13y ago
  Presumably GPS and/or visual recognition system can be used to achieve the same, after all airstrip location is know in advance.
  - yutyut 13y ago
    Presumably, the visual recognition system in this case was a human.
pbhjpbhj 13y ago
They mention that the ILS was off for repairs. Isn't that a major negative for doing autopilot landing (if indeed it's still allowed/possible without the external location based information).
- dakrisht 13y ago
  Correct. You cannot Autoland without the ILS (both glide slope + localizer are required)
snom380 13y ago
It's being used when needed. When not needed, pilots use the opportunity to practice landings. It's important to not get over-dependent on automation.