Will You Travel In An Airplane With No Pilots?

After posting an article arguing against only a single pilot in the cockpit, I came across the news about flying in commercial aircraft with no pilot on board!

I am interested both as a pilot and passenger.

To be clear, I am not against one or no pilots because I fear losing my job, because I will retire soon, anyway.

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Yes, airplanes are very reliable these days, but can we ignore the environment?

Will the automation be able to do the entire flight without human intervention?

It might be possible in an ideal world, but in daily operations, at busy airports?

In theory, a lot is possible¡ªfrom hypersonic (5 times the speed of sound) flights to an ideal marriage! But practically things are different. Aren¡¯t they?

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Manufacturers might make the aircraft fail-proof, if that were ever possible, but how will those planes deal with external threats?

When we fly, we guard against many potential hazards like thunderstorms, turbulence, windshear, wake turbulence, terrorism, hijack, and losing all engines!

Forget about the distant past. Since the year 2000, there have been 14 cases of aircraft losing all their engines, because of various reasons, including multiple bird hits.

How will the autopilot handle that?

Also, too much automation can cause confusion, leading to accidents.

As someone said, ¡°To err is human, but to really foul things up, you need automation.¡±

Imagine a self-driving car on Indian roads in peak traffic, and you get the idea. I suspect the sound of the horns alone would be enough to confuse its computers!

Pilots need training, salaries, rest, leave, food, and comfortable cockpits. And they fall sick at short notice.

Autopilots need nothing other than electric power and computers.

Naturally, replacing pilots with autopilots is tempting because that translates into higher profits.

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I once had a tyre burst on take-off. I continued to the destination and used the time to prepare my inexperienced trainee Co-pilot, crew, and the passengers for the worst-case eventuality of landing with a damaged tyre.

After we landed safely, many passengers thanked me, saying that the Captain¡¯s calm announcement was reassuring.

Will a recorded robotic voice be equally comforting?

They may use ground-based pilots to control the aircraft, like they do with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and drones. But will the passengers feel confident and comfortable if the pilots are not on board facing the same danger?

And drones can be dangerous too. A recent headline says, ¡°Camera drone injures singer during a live performance.¡±

If a tiny drone can hurt someone, imagine what a huge pilotless commercial airliner could do. Forget being inside. I would not want to be anywhere near it.

In a poll conducted in the US, a whopping 81% voted against the idea of pilotless commercial airplanes. And the other 19% surprise me!

Can we trust automation to handle life-threatening situations? No! That is why I do not think we can replace pilots with autopilots.

Let them start with long distance driverless trains and buses and then try it on ships.

If that proves safe, let us stick to pilotless cargo planes, but not commercial aircraft carrying passengers.

What do you think?

Will you travel in an airplane with no pilots?