The pilot told investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that his control panel froze up. When he switched to a second control station, he didn't notice that it was set to shut off the plane's fuel. The switch cut off the Predator's engine.
(from: Alan Levin, USA TODAY's article mentioned on the above mentioned link)
It seems Human factors are also present in this case.
Wouldn't SLF prefer to have the pilots flying with them, on commercial aircraft?
When we pilots, buckle our safety belts, we join our lives and ultimately our destiny to the ones of our passengers. Our mistakes are paid with the ultimate price. A "pilot" seated in a room, "managing" a commercial aircraft would never be involved as we are in the cockpit of our aircraft.
I don't think passengers will accept unmanned cockpits in the near future. Its a too complex environment to be left to computers, and "ground pilots", cause computers also fail. Computers don't gain experience, don't have common sense, and are unable to improvise or overcome their-selves (Sully comes to mind) to resolve uncommon situations.
So lets fight for our profession. Lets fight for the
honorability of our jobs. Lets impose the "pilots point of view", to the manufacturers, to the management and to the intransigent.