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Comment by perbu | Hacker News Reader

Have you flown on autopilot? It maintains speed, height and direction. It doesn't land or take off. Originally it couldn't even turn.

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Sure. And during those hours of straight and level flight you can read a book or talk to the cabin crew or have a meal. Shouldn't do that in the car (yet).

Because what are you going to hit up there, cumulogranite? There's a whole industry devoted to "let's keep the planes out of each other's way; luckily the sky is huge".

That violates the sterile cockpit rule and is a HUGE no no. Pilots can only read a book or talk to cabin crew if the control of the aircraft is with the other human pilot in the cockpit. Someone has to be ready to take control of the aircraft at a moment's notice in the case of a sensor, software, or mechanical failure.

> That violates the sterile cockpit rule and is a HUGE no no. Pilots can only read a book or talk to cabin crew if the control of the aircraft is with the other human pilot in the cockpit.

Sterile cockpit does not seem to apply at cruising altitude though, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_Cockpit_Rule: "The Sterile Cockpit Rule is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation stating that during critical phases of flight (normally below 10,000 feet (3,050 m)), only activities required for the safe operation of the aircraft may be carried out, and all non-essential activities in the cockpit are forbidden."

Some can land in some conditions. However take off is still done by pilots in everything other than a few experimental aircraft.

> Some can land in some conditions.

So... a bit like a Tesla parking itself in some conditions?

Perhaps, but I've already responded to you addressing this, in this thread. The public's ignorance must be considered; being "technically correct" isn't good enough if the "technically correct" statement is being made by somebody who has every reason to believe it will be misunderstood.

To add: saying that your marketing is "technically correct" while focussing on the general audience is quite convenient (deceptive).

I hope you really don't think it's a good comparison. The level of effort and safety engineering that went into ILS Cat IIIb and Autoland is above and beyond what any automotive company is doing. Autoland is mandatory in certain conditions.

Requires total coordination and compliance from both stationary and moving parts of the system, and operator is supposed to take over immediately, continuing the manouevre, at the sign of any trouble?

Yeah. That's almost completely unlike a Tesla parking.

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