Will they ever have remote control Commercial airliners?

Question

I think if it was ever possible logistically and technologically it would be great, but then again its probably far too difficult and thousands would be killed... what do you think?

Answer 1

Of course its possible, NASA flew a remote controlled Boeing 720 years ago to test a new fuel they were developing. The question is would you fly on an airliner with nobody in the cockpit? I know I wouldn't, and that's the main reason why I believe it'll never happen in the forseeable future. Its a commercial rather than technological barrier.

Answer 2

No.  To see why, try using one of the computer-based translation programs to translate a simple message from English to, say, French.  It will be only a rough approximation of the way a person would do it.

In the same way, there are simply too many details in operating and flying an airplane that automatic and remote control equipment cannot be made to handle.  Have you ever watched an RPV land?  You would not buy a ticket for that ride.

Human pilots, alive and kicking, are absolutely required for safe flight.  So, no, there will never be pilotless airliners.

Answer 3

Read  up on Dove Zackheim and remote control units his firm developed, and the E4B in the air during 9/11, and Boeing 737's. One school of thought suspects the hijackers were hijacked. Fiendishly clever, if true.

Answer 4

Well lets see.... NO.

Answer 5

more or less good idea. already feasible. Thinking about all the probes we've sent into space and the like. They are all automated, and/or remote controlled. And the UCAVs that the USAF uses for intel gathering.

The problem is the people. Would you trust your life to a machine? possibly even software made by Microsoft? There are also the limitations to machines. They do not "think". They cannot react to unexpected siuations as efficiently as trained humans.

The remote-control in an emergency idea kind of compensates but nothing is like having a real crew on board.

Also, this does not remove the hi-jacking threat. In fact, it could even make it easier. Just pull out a few wires, a plug or two, or even upload a new program via your laptop into the aircraft in flight or while it is being servced on the ground. Heck, a smart terrorist or hacker could probably upload a malicious program into the plane via internet.

So in the end, it is possible but no airline would do it. The elimination of the pilots' salaries and training would not compensate for the loss in revenue caused by the drop in clients and higher insurance prices.

It is very unlikely that we will see this technology implemented for commercial airliners. Perhaps for other uses, it would be more possible, like air freight.

Answer 6

Why "remote"? Remote from who's point of view?

Imagine an airliner in the middle of the ocean, what is the point of having someone controlling it from 1000's of miles away, especially since this would call for rather long distance communication at a fast rate (which includes delay in transmission)?

If there is an issue of eliminating the on-board crew (why? Someone 1000's of km away is just as likely to mess up, in fact, not being on board means that the remote controller would not be able to search for the source of problems), it would be because the auto pilot would take entirely over. And the paying passenger is probably not going to support this (and one wonders if the certification authorities would as well).

So, don't dream too much about it, it is not going to happen anytime soon.

Edit: eliminate hijacking? When was the last time hijacking occured? The solution to eliminate hijacking is not to eliminate the crew, it is to eliminate the hijackers. The cockpit doors are now reinforced bullet-proof units, and they remain closed and locked from takeoff to landing. Crew would not respond to threats from anyone in the cabin, but will divert to the nearest airport in case of medical (or other) emergency. (On September 11, the crew opened the door on threat and possibly murdering of passengers, allowing the terrorists to take control of the airplane; this will NEVER be allowed to happen again). Remove the crew and have the plane piloted from 1000 of miles away, and there is no one left to pick up the weird little noise that could spell problem.

Answer 7

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard Our Airlines flight to Honolulu. You have probably noticed that there are no pilots on this aircraft, since there is a wall between the front of the aircraft and the passenger cabin. This aircraft is completely automated and is programed to fly without pilots. We will be cruising at 39,000 feet and will be on time. Please fasten your seat belts and listen to the instructions of the cabin crew. Thank you for flying with us, and remember, nothing can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong,can go wrong, can go wrong.....

It was joked that if the US built a SST to compete with the Concorde, the pilot would be in a glass case with a small hammer and a sign that would say "Break glass in case of emergency.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 8

yep. it's obvious that with increased automation replacing human interaction accident rates drop. especially fatal accidents. flight engineers have been gone from cockpits for years because automation made them redundant and accident rates continue to decline. 85% of all aircraft accidents have pilot error as at least one of the probable causes. the math doesn't work that remove pilots accidents reduce by 85% but it would result in safer skies to a great degree.

we're not far off from ailine cockpits having a human captain in the left seat and a large dog where the copilot used to sit. the captains job is to feed the dog. the dog's job is to bite the captain if he touches anything.

Answer 9

I don't think they will use it for commericial airliners however they have started using it for war. Where they will have flying aircrafts which is remote controlled as well as air to air combat. Human vs remote controlled plane which is scary especially to fighter plane pilots.

I don't think many people would go on a plane if it was controlled by a computer. Even though a computer is smart etc if that fails then everyone on board will die. Since there is no last line of defence except a pilot. So the odds of it being in commercial air travel is going to be extremely low. However if it comes to war then probably yeah.

Answer 10

It think it's right up there with one of this year's oddest questions. I think you should receive an award or something. It's very intresting now your mind works. Don't stop dreaming and keep your head in the clouds.

Answer 11

I think it's definitely possible and not that far off, although I would imagine there would be a pilot on board in case of a problem.  Remote controlled aircraft would be simpler to develop, I think, than remote controlled cars, from a traffic standpoint alone.  And they are already developing cars with guidance systems that recognize the divider lines in the roadway and read highway signs.

Answer 12

in short no,

in long i think about it if something goes wrong one thing its over because this machine is programmed to complete a task within its given parameters. a pilot is trained to interprerate interact and adapt to whats happening around him. A simple number error would cause a program to crash ie a plugged static port or a pitot tube thats iced over and you have incorrect readings and you are in trouble until they create artificial intelligence smart enough to fly a plane and not program specific motions into a robot then i don't think so, flying planes aint as easy ans "go, steer.... k now land"