I don't think manipulating the controls is the big problem. I also don't think automating any established normal, abnormal or emergency procedure is the big problem. Neither is configuring the aircraft automatically.
The real challenge is that on most airplanes I have ever flown the abnormal and emergency procedures are far from perfect. On the 737 I thought they were really good in almost(!) all situations I encountered in the sim over the few years I flew the type.
However, most biz jets I have flown there was a lot of room for improvement in the checklists including some obvious mistakes that the manufacturer was very slow to address if at all. I would not want to sit in the back of a plane where a computer is just actioning these kind of imperfect procedures. And that'a before we get into other variables and complexities such as multiple failures, related or unrelated, weather etc.
And what about emergencies such as fire and smoke on board (not engine fires) and medical emergencies? I have had GPS jamming on an aircraft that had no INS/IRS. The DME/DME back up did not work as advertised and the FMS reverted to DR which resulted in a huge map shift in a very short time. How would the automated pilot deal with that?
Yes, the Garmin auto land available on some single pilot GA types today is quite impressive but I am sure it is very far from being able to replace a real pilot day in and day out. It might save the day when the sole pilot of a small plane becomes incapacitated but that's a much lower bar to clear than providing safe transportation in all conditions for billions of passengers on millions of flights every single year.
Not saying it's impossible. The technology is there in principle but it is not nearly ready yet and many years from being implemented widely in my humble opinion. What's needed is true AI which can only work if it has all the inputs (sensors) we have plus the interface in place to interact with it, including input from ATC and mx on the ground, from cabin crew etc.
Last edited by 733driver; 10th Oct 2020 at 18:18.