He cautions, however, that much work needs to be done to persuade the travelling public, regulatory authorities and unions that the concept is feasible.
Yes indeed, much work. As in, not a chance buddy.
As a frequent flyer, in my opinion, not a chance! I don’t care how sophisticated technology will be in 2020, 2 sets of eyes, ears and brains are better than any computer system. Who inputs those computers? Remember, most accidents start with little issues multiplying and potentially becoming a disaster.
One can argue about human error and accidents, but, ultimately, do we want a pilot overloaded with tasks and possible technological failures flying 100 passengers? Not in my book.
Yeah - what happens if the pilot dies or is otherwise incapictated? Hey, it happens - especially on Continental.
I predict that within 15 to 20 years there will be commercial aircraft cruising our skies with NO ONE up front!
This is a simple extrapolation of existing technology. There are many in both academia as well our overly protective government who are all too willing to blame the current humans in the cockpit as the true bottleneck in aircraft traffic management.
I am old enough to recall when automated people movers and subways were held up as examples of the beginning of the apocalypse that would rain calamities down upon us of Biblical proportions (*****).
(*****)
“Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!”
“Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…”
“The dead rising from the grave!”
“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!”
In the near future there will still be 2 in the cockpit: A pilot and a dog.
The dog will be there to bite the pilot in case he tries to touch anything.
An oldie but a goodie.
[quote=“JHEM”]
Thanks for the exact quote - I couldn’t quite come up with the purpose of the pilot.
I thought that Bill Murray doing serious dramatic roles was a sure sign of the Apocalypse…
I don’t think so. One of the things I was taught when I took an Air Crash Investigations class is that human are there because humans can think. When there is a situation that has never happened before and no one thought it could happen, a human can solve the problem.
[quote=“redlegsfan21”]
This has already happened, although not with an aircraft in commercial service.
This happened when Lockheed was testing the L-1011. There were pilots aboard but their job was only to taxi to the runway for takeoff and from the runway after landing. This would have been back around 1970.
I agree we may be on the path to pilotless flight etc. My question is, with so much automation , who’s going to do what? Without getting the Dale Gribble tin foil weirdo hat on, everything is becoming automated, creating less jobs. In a factory, you have one technician or engineer monitoring the machines that does the work of 10 men. There’s going to be a point where no one will be able to consume the automated services as they won’t be working.
I know the railroads have been doing crewless trains. Now they are basically remote controlled, but maybe down the road a dispatcher will control the movement.
It almost seems like we’ve past the happy medium of automation. I’ve been dealing with a severe network outtage at work, and it’s unfortunately like the world coming to an end because there’s no mechanical paper backup.
Technology is great to an extent.
[quote=“redlegsfan21”]
We call that “whistling pat the graveyard”, i.e. wishful thinking.
Were that true, “humans can solve the problem”, then there would be NO aircraft accidents other than those that result from catastrophic mechanical problems.
Just think of the current aircraft of all types that are incapable of sustained flight if their computers go teats up! 