If we have autonomous elevators and cars, why not airliners? Jets may not be going pilotless, but they could be going copilotless, if research by NASA and Rockwell Collins pans out.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Facing potential shortages of airline pilots and dramatic advances in automation, industry and government researchers have begun the most serious look yet at the idea of enabling jetliners to be flown by a single pilot.”
A new study will look at whether copilots could remain on the ground, assisting pilots on the flight deck during the busiest parts of a flight, according to John Borghese, Rockwell’s vice president of its Advanced Technology Center, as reported in the Journal.
The feasibility of the plan depends on political and social as well as technical issues. To evaluate the technical issues, the Journal reports, Rockwell was awarded a $4 million, four-year contract earlier this year, with the first phase to be formally announced Tuesday. The research will include simulations and possibly flight trials.
The Journal quotes Parimal Kopardekar of NASA’s Ames Research Center as saying existing aircraft may be too expensive to retrofit, so the technology could most likely appear on new aircraft with a cockpit designed specifically for a single pilot.
Is there really an aviator shortage? According to the Journal, “Analysts, labor groups and academics contend any pilot shortage results from the industry’s unwillingness to sufficiently pay pilots.”
