Computers are flying planes.
This is a training issue more than any definitive "proof".
This is a training issue more than any definitive "proof".
Good luck finding pilots. And how do those pilots get that 20,000 hours?
Humans are bad at some tasks. This is an example of one of them.
Sure, but there's the same problem with computer pilots: how do they establish a tremendous track record of safety such that people won't freak out? I don't mean "rationally decide that a computer flying is better than a person" but instead, emotionally accept it's a better idea?
The odds in traditional aviation are pretty good these days; better than driving. But nobody wants to be the first person to be killed by a computer pilot. Acceptance is going to be a tough road.
Like autonomous cars, autonomous airliners have been steadily sneaking up on us for a while, and the first fatalities have already happened. It's a smooth function, not a pure on/off.
We've had tremendously advanced autopilots for a long time, but there have always been people up at the front, supposedly in charge.
It's the difference between getting on a bus with a guy in the drivers seat who has auto-braking so he doesn't accidentally rear-end someone and getting on a bus with no driver at all. People are OK with the first, but less likely to be OK with the second.
I'm not saying it's rationally correct for people to behave this way, but they do behave this way.
For one thing, I think it means the transition will be easier than most people fear. As we get more and more automated, we'll start making entire flights from gate to gate without human intervention. At some point, somebody will say, "It's been three years since the last time a human airline pilot actually did anything, so clearly you're all comfortable with being flown around by a computer, let's take that final step" in a convincing manner.
Personally, I don't want to be the last person killed by a human pilot. :)
Agreed, though, that safety in aviation is generally quite good.
There was a similar issue in November of last year on flight to Barcelona, luckily, the pilots managed to restart the systems just before 150 people would have died.