Originally Posted by Chronus
AirRabbit says
I think the airplane load of passengers at the mercy of an autonomous computer is still some distance in the future.
But work in the field of full automation is well underway. The case in point is the ASTREA PROJECT which is for the use of UAS in all classes of airspace without the need of special or restrictive conditions of operation.
Surely a project of this magnitude is not without a specific aim and purpose.
I am well aware of the UAS efforts underway in the US – in fact I have several colleagues who are intimately involved on both sides of the regulatory fence on this very issue. But, I say again, in each of these situations, one of the serious issues facing the operation is the connectivity between the “pilot” on the ground and the airborne UAS – which presents its own interesting set of problems and solutions. In fact expanding the existing UAS program into a world-wide airline operation is not only not in a similar neighborhood, it’s not even on the same or a similar planet – something a lot closer would be playing with a 4-piece, slip-together, balsa-wood airplane in preparation for operating the space shuttle replacement.