Originally Posted by
vilas
I am in agreement with you. All the objections raised to autonomous flights assume that humans in front make the safest flight which is far from the truth. I said it before many fully serviceable aircraft are crashed in perfectly fine weather due to pilot error and to make matters worse this word is frowned upon and some human factor is flashed to close the chapter. I have repeatedly said that human factor is the worst advertisement for human presence in the cockpit. Many incidents it's used to cover up poor acts of Piloting. So if humans can't be changed then can they be replaced is a logical thought. Accidents happen with humans in front, they will happen without them in front but as long as the frequency is less and makes flights significantly cheaper it will be accepted.
I would object to that. A properly selected and well trained pilot is a huge safety improvement. Only a properly selected and well trained pilot has the ability to manage a complex machine like a modern airliner in a complex environment to the necessary relatively failure free level over a career of 30 years.
"Fully serviceable aircraft crashed in perfectly fine weather" are overall still a very rare occurence and limited to operators who do not properly select and do not well train their pilots.
I do not remember when a fully serviceable aircraft was crashed in perfectly fine weather by one of the US major airlines, although they are by far doing the most legs worldwide.
The reaction to substandard pilots can not be to increase complexity by making the aircraft even more automated, the reaction must be to install better selection and training standards worldwide. We know what it takes. It is not rocket science. But it has to be done.