c52
I thought I read that story a couple of years ago.
You probably did - I first read about this project maybe 6-7 years ago and since then the story has reappeared in the mainstream press several times - I think as the project progresses occasionally somebody makes a decision to raise it's profile and pushes out a press release..maybe just for
PR reasons, might also be for funding purposes, who knows?.
From wiki ( therefore usual caveats apply).
"In July
2008, a BAE Systems team that included Cranfield Aerospace and the National Flight Laboratory Centre at Cranfield University achieved a major breakthrough in unmanned air systems technology. The team flew a series of missions, totalling 800 mi (1,290 km), in a specially modified Jetstream 31 (G-BWWW) without any human intervention, This was the first time such an undertaking had been achieved. "
my emphasis
Not sure how autonomous this Jetstream really is but of course an automated capability to deal with the yaw associated with engine failures, and/or TCAS avoidance handled by the the autopilot are features already in service on some types, so one would hope the research team are ahead of the game on those items.