Originally Posted by
3pointlanding
I guess you never of of the Air Force flying no pilot F16's, or Airbus testing a no pilot 757. Here is the states 402s are being tested with no pilot. GA is way ahead also, you can buy a Piper with the ability to to fly itself and land with passengers on board. PIlot has a heart attack? No problem, just push the panic button and the plane looks for the nearest suitable airport checks the weather, sets the squawk, notifies approach and the tower then lands the plane with the passenger only having to shut down the engine. Garmin has produced the avionics for years and a friend of mine has it in her Meridian. Oh it will come in my lifetime and I am 74.
Agree to disagree on the necessary level of automation and technology. That aside, the enormous cost of implementation on both the airlines and ATC create a rather large barrier and we can spend days talking about the needed regulatory change it would take to achieve approval.
Pilotless Boeings and Airbus will not be controlling the sky in your lifetime. Sorry…