Originally Posted by
aviatormjc
What would happen in the case of a total electrical failure?
How about the 184 passengers who Al Haines and crew saved. What would they have to say?
Miracle on the Hudson? More like a disaster!
I can't see it happening, but single pilot airliners is in our lifetime I believe, unfortunately.
Not in our lifetime, from an engineering standpoint it's possible but hideously expensive. It would take a government-funded manhattan project, which ain't in the cards.
Total electrical failure highlights one of the engineering challenges...you would need MASSIVE redundancy which means weight and money. Then you would have severe operational challenges...almost all systems MEL's would be no-go items with an auto-airliner. Not only would you need extra redundant system components they would have to be built and maintained like spacecraft...in a clean room.
An automated airliner is comparable in engineering scope to a communication or spy satellite...which can cost about $1 billion.