Originally Posted by
futurama
Not a good test. An autonomous aircraft facing the exact same situation
might simply return to La Guardia without drama.
Not to say Sully that didn't do a superb job -- he absolutely did -- but computers are much better than humans in such situations. I.e., problems with clear constraints where an immediate solution can be computed. There would be no hesitation, no need to query ATC about possible options, no "can we make it to Teterboro?" back-and-forth, etc., all wasting precious seconds.
Have you read the report you referenced? "An immediate decision would have been required to complete a successful turnback, and even that was questionable (paraphrasing) ". An immediate decision isn’t necessarily the most appropriate. Scenario..pilotless aircraft has to force land in a field a) full of children or b) a field full of animals, which would it chose? I know what a human would do...