Self-flying plane startup Merlin Labswants to put pilotless cargo and passenger planesin the sky.
But do we really need to remove the pilot from a plane?
Would autonomous flights be safe?
Viktor Forgacs / Unsplash
And would any passengers ever get on board?
Whats the Point?
Autonomous and remote-piloted drones make sense in the military, where your aircraft risks being shot down.
Westwind Air Service / Unsplash
But for commercial and cargo flights, the main reason for ditching the pilot is cost.
And then theres the copilot.
Another consideration is safety, but commercial airlines are already one of the safest ways to travel.
Better, he says, to make everything fully automatic.
Self-Flying Planes
Autonomous airliners operate in a very different environment from self-driving cars.
Flight paths and speeds can be calculated to double-check planes never come near each other.
In fact, airliners pretty much fly themselves already.
To find out, we asked some pilots.
Smith even wrote anessay on the realities of flight automation.
We already know that military drones can take off, fly, and land, all by remote control.
Its not a stretch to apply that to a plane full of passengers or cargo.
A plane cant swerve into oncoming traffic or hit a lamppost if it gets momentarily confused.
Could these crew members also be trained to take over the plane in an emergency?
Would You Fly Pilotless?
The biggest barrier to autonomous flights might be psychological.
Which of us would feel safe on board a plane without anyone on board flying it?
“Will passengers ever board an airplane, if the responsible operator is not on board?”
It takes place two months ago during a night flight over Central Europe.
“Copilot went to the restroom.
He had just closed the cockpit door as multiple alarms came on in the cockpit.”
“We solved it after a few minutes.
It was a computer that failed for a short time, and basically restarted itself.”
