Frankly I find it highly amusing when people tell us that flying will be fully automatic in the near future.
I am sure future aircraft will have more sophisticated automation but in my opinion we are decades away from full automation requiring no intervention from a qualified crew member.
There have been other threads on this subject before with the software techie guys saying how easy it is to fully automate flying and then pilots asking "what would you do when XXX happens?" followed by a deafening silence.
In my opinion there are too many variables for this to become a viable option for a long time.
Also when the first fully automated airliner spears into the middle of a suburban area who will be liable?
Last edited by fireflybob; 5th Dec 2012 at 22:34.