Originally Posted by
E cam
Some of the "reasons" why we can't have pilotless aircraft are pathetic! Can't avoid a CB, can't cope with a limiting cross-wind, can't taxi, can't cope without ILS, can't "see". These are all easy to achieve.
However, the fact that the 787/A350 are not single pilot tells me that pilotless airliners are a long way off.
But Eclipse 500 is single pilot, and there are manufacturers crawling out of woodwork everywhere with "very light" jets. Adam, Cessna, Embraer, Grob... Who would have thought that a solo pilot can fly a fast, pressurized twinjet?
What happened the last time that a solo pilot propeller crashed thanks to pilot incapacitation, or collided with and destroyed an airliner? What happens next time?
How long before Boeing and Airbus feel compelled to build solo pilot cockpits for BBJ and ACJ, and then dump copilots from the rest of the commercial fleet, as they did with A300, B737, B767 or DC-10 flight engineers?