PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Control tower lands plane without pilot intervention!
Old 14th April 2004 | 20:29
  #2 (permalink)  
Basil
 
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,369
Likes: 3
From: UK.
Just a couple of comments on the Herald Sun story:
Civil aircraft usually respond to instructions (not commands) from ATC.
I presume the ATC instructions were passed by data link rather than by voice.
<<The new system does away with the conventional way pilots scan flight instruments.>> It's a HUD? Either way the pilot(s) will monitor the flightpath by observing instruments of one sort or another and the aircraft commander (the one who issues commands) will continue to be ultimately responsible for the safety of the aircraft.
Data link, if it delivers hoped for benefits, will reduce communication time and misunderstanding but nevertheless this is evolution rather than revolution.
Basil is offline