Originally Posted by
BAengineer
I just had a look at the website for this product and given that the pilot has no direct control over the tug I dont see how it would be allowed on an airport without a driver in the cab. If the tug sensing mechanism fails or gets a fault there is no way for the pilot to control the direction of travel as he cannot remotely shut down the tug. Same with the engine, the pilot has no way of stopping it except by relying on the aircraft brakes.
So we have a tug that costs probably double that of a normal tug (due to the NWS sensor technology) but still needs a driver - so no cost saving at all, in fact the opposite. I dont see any market for this until totally automated cars are mainstream - come back in 20 years.
Surely the tug could never overcome the aircraft brakes, so that is the ultimate protection, unless unmanned movement is allowed.