Can automated systems deal with unique events?
I'm in my 30s now. Airlines are still buying A320s and 737 derivatives. I have little doubt that I will retire flying aircraft currently flying now. The 747 and 767 have been with BA 20-30 years. I look forward to retiring off maybe the 380 some time in the 2040s.
If you need one pilot on the aircraft, then quite frankly you need two. I think the vast majority of tasks will be automated, with various forms of computer control, but we are looking at the next generation of clean sheet designs, so 30-50 years away.
If you need one pilot on the aircraft, then quite frankly you need two. I think the vast majority of tasks will be automated, with various forms of computer control, but we are looking at the next generation of clean sheet designs, so 30-50 years away.
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Originally Posted by Neville nobody
1. Can autonomous aircraft beat that fatality rate?
2. Can they do it cheaper than pilots do now?
2. Can they do it cheaper than pilots do now?
2. Absolutely. Pilots are extremely expensive.
# What I would like to know though is where is the optimum? What combination of pilot/aircraft/automation will yield the best return in terms of fuel economy/payload/accident rate/fatality rate. Whatever it is will take a change in attitudes within the design, operating and regulating communities.
Originally Posted by Jwscud
... but we are looking at the next generation of clean sheet designs, so 30-50 years away.
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Umm. I don't know quite where to start with that statement.
If you need one chef in the kitchen, then quite frankly you need two.
If you need one prime minister, then quite frankly you need two.
If you need one midwife, then quite frankly you need two.
You realise that it makes no sense, right?
A huge number of aircraft fly around with one pilot. Many of them carry passengers in airways RVSM etc. As the job gets easier, it is not a great stretch to imagine that one person could do it.
I get the impression that the powers that be aren't planning initially to have only 1 pilot flying an airliner, rather 1 pilot sat in the cockpit during the cruise, whilst the other pilot goes off task for rest. For T/O and Landing, there would be 2 pilots at the controls.
I would counter that the exact opposite will be the case. I think insurance companies are exactly the people who will force it to happen once a body of evidence is gathered to show the safety advantages of autonomous aircraft
The other issue there is actually proving your case to be correct. The amount of autonomous flight data you would need is huge given the number of human powered flights that exist now. Flying a testbed around the world a few times is not the same as the millions of hours that humans put up every year.
And for the insurance companies they have to consider the original title of this thread can computers deal with the weird failures that occur in aviation
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Regarding the pilot cost question: 1 captain with all the skills and experience and proper salary. 1 cruise pilot, while said captain nods off in a cockpit bunk ready to leap into action if required, paid peanuts. So, 1.25 pilots. Cruise pilot then goes back to smaller jets from whence they came to refresh their techniques, achieve command, and if so desires move unto the sleepy ultra-longhaul single (almost) big jet.
Cruise pilot, during takeoff and landing, is trained thoroughly to move landing gear & flaps, bark & bite captain if he tries to kill anyone and touch a wrong switch, and read any normal/non-normal checklists as needed. Cruise pilots answer to the name of 'Rover'.
Cruise pilot, during takeoff and landing, is trained thoroughly to move landing gear & flaps, bark & bite captain if he tries to kill anyone and touch a wrong switch, and read any normal/non-normal checklists as needed. Cruise pilots answer to the name of 'Rover'.
