So many excuses being thrown around, but the bottom line here is that if a healthy airliner on a sunny day, with 11k of runway crashes, something needs to be done. A quarter billion dollars and 300 lives were at stake.
That crash would never have happened with an automated cockpit, and the move towards getting pilots out of airliners just took a huge leap. The day is coming, and like the horseless carriage opponents of yesteryear it would behoove us to accept and adapt to that fact.
Sure computers are only as good as their programming, but we are at, or close to the threshold where the overall reliability of an autopilot exceeds that of a human, and airlines and their accountants shareholders and lawyers will react accordingly.
Last edited by femanvate; 9th Jul 2013 at 04:10.
Reason: i cant spell