Originally Posted by AfricanSkies
This bothers me. Here we have a flyable aircraft with an incapacitated crew. A CLEVER aircraft full of computers. It knows it's cabin altitude and it's altitude. It's got a terrain database. It's got a GPWS. It can tell if it's been suddenly depressurized. It's under control. But it can't automatically fly itself down to a safer altitude and then avoid terrain on autopilot?
Automation does not imply artificial intelligence. You're blaming a mindless machine... If someone is to be blamed, it is manufacturers, Thales, Honeywell, and Rockwell Collins.
Autopilot works on the principle of a computer - you tell the computer what you want it to do in each situation you program it for. It doesn't figure it out on its own.
If your point is "current air navigation / flight management systems are outdated", I'd agree 110%. There is so much more potential but not enough initiative. Or money.