PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - "Pilotless airliners safer" - London Times article
Old 1st Dec 2014, 13:15
  #7 (permalink)  
ETOPS
 
Join Date: Apr 1999
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can only be resolved with the judgement of a human mind in the flight deck, such as the necessity to deviate from the planned flight path in order to avoid hazardous weather
Having spent much of the last 26 years "handling the big jets" on worldwide operations, I feel the quote I've highlighted points to the sort of problems automated flights will struggle with.

On more than a few occasions I've had to dig deep into my skills and experience over, say, central Africa in order to safely pass through the ITCZ. The passengers would have been unaware of the efforts we were making - apart from the seatbelt sign - and a safe landing was always the outcome.

It will be many years before I feel able to trust such a "pilotless" machine with my safety.
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