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ICAO4U – aviation language Pilotless Planes Next Decade…? Not Really…

Pilotless Planes Next Decade…? Not Really…

  • slash farest
  • prices drop by over 10 per cent
  • remove potential for pilot error 

Passenger planes could be flown without a pilot in the next decade, according to a new study conducted by the investment banks.  Pilotless planes could save airlines £27 billion and slash fares for passengers, who could see prices drop by over 10 per cent.  The study predicts flights will be safer as the potential for pilot error will be removed.

  • remote controlled plane 
  • refuse to fly
  • two pilot set-up

Air passengers, however, seem nervous about travelling in a remote controlled plane. More than half of the 8,000 people asked  by the investment bank UBS (54 per cent) said they would refuse to fly in a plane with no pilot, even if the flight cost less. Respondents between 18 and 34 and those who had a university degree were more willing to fly without a pilot.  UBS suggested that initially the traditional two pilot set-up will be reduced to one pilot on board and one pilot on the ground.

  • adopt technology to control aircraft
  • basic building blocks of the technology

The basic technology to fly planes without pilots already exists. Military drones are operated remotely and the study says this technology could be adapted to control commercial aircraft. Boeing is set to test pilotless planes next year and the company’s vice president of product development, Mike Sinnett, said: “The basic building blocks of the technology clearly are available.”

  • convinced 
  • we have concerns 

However, not everyone is so convinced by these technological developments. Steve Landells, BALPA flight safety specialist and former pilot, said:

We have concerns that in the excitement of this futuristic idea, some may be forgetting the reality of pilotless air travel. Automation in the cockpit is not a new thing – it already supports operations. However, every single day pilots have to intervene when the automatics don’t do what they’re supposed to”.

  • a human is still required to operate it 
  • it requires direct contact with the situation 
  • diminished responsibility
  • diminished decision-making

“Computers can fail, and often do, and someone is still going to be needed to work that computer. Most of us own some sort of electronic device that can do amazing things – however, a human is still required to operate it. Pilot intervention will always be necessary, and because that requires direct contact with the situation, we don’t believe ‘pilotless flight’ will ever be a reality – what is more likely to happen is that the pilots are moved to the ground rather than being on board. We would question the safety of this, due to diminished responsibility and operational decision-making.”

  • 0:21′ the first step to the unmanned passenger planes 
  • 0:30′ profound shortage of/ in pilots

Watch HERE the Film on the Pilotless Planes Prospect
Inspired by: ‘Pilotless Planes Could be Possible by 2025’, opublikowanego na independent.co.uk

AVIATION TECHNOLOGY / AVIATION MARKET / AVIATION FUTURE / PILOT’S JOB