Come on you can't be serious

[doodab]

I have often wondered why they have failed to adopt radio controlled, or even self navigating, aircraft.

[Platypus]

I have often wondered why they have failed to adopt radio controlled, or even self navigating, aircraft.

Some do
Assassination by drone « Wanderingraven's Blog

[NickFitz]

I have often wondered why they have failed to adopt radio controlled, or even self navigating, aircraft.

[RichardCranium]

I have often wondered why they have failed to adopt radio controlled, or even self navigating, aircraft.

Because neither the pilots nor the passengers will allow it.

One of the lectures I had at college (20+ years ago) was about radio navigation and the use of beacons at the airport to guide the plane in. It is merely an extension of the technology used by the Luftwaffe to accurately bomb cities in WWII by using tight beam radio signals. The difference is the modern autopilot can do a much better job of following it and landing the 'plane than the autopilots of the 1940s. Now a fly-by-wire 'plane would be far better than a human. A fly-by-wire autopilot could land an aeroplane in total darkness or 0% visibility from fog better than a human pilot on a clear sunny day.

But the passengers would not accept it - would you get on a 'plane with no pilot?

A couple or so years ago I sat through a presentation from a retired navigator about GPS in aircraft and how it kills people because they no longer plan their routes on paper and instead follow the straight-line GPS into mountains and restricted airspace. He said the time has come to abandon the idea of having stupid wetware in the cockpit and replace it with reliable hardware & software instead.

Imagine the outrage at a headline like this:

EasyJet announces: "Crew-free flights"

From January EasyJet flights will have no crew aboard

EasyJet staff look forward to a bleak Xmas as they have all been given 4 weeks' notice. As from 1st January, there will be no crew on any EasyJet flight. EasyJet claim it is to increase reliability and safety and is not about saving money. "Pilots make human errors and cannot land in fog so we're better off without them. Replacing them with a iPad will be a huge improvement."

But the radical changes do not stop there. "Also, stewardesses raise anxiety and create a permanent atmosphere that flying is dangerous. Buses do not need conductors and aircraft do not need some tart to just say "Thank you for flying Tat Airways". Since they do not serve anything you want, we're getting rid of them too, which will remove the fear of flying there presence causes."

An EasyJet spokesman said "These changes will make us the most reliable and safest airline in the world, overnight.

[doodab]

Sorry, I meant I have often wondered why terrorists have failed to adopt radio controlled, or even self navigating, aircraft as weapons delivery systems. It can't be that hard to adapt a model airframe to a self navigating drone using off the shelf GPS, microcontrollers etc, certainly something that ought to be within the capability of a reasonably educated engineer with a budget of a few thousand.

[doodab]

I read somewhere a while ago about some research into replacing the current air traffic control system with something that gave the individual planes more freedom but required them to follow simple rules like don't get within 5km of the next plane. Essentially leaving ATC to the pilots + automated systems.

[Troll]

Man arrested after ejaculating during TSA pat-down : Dead Serious News

The world really has gone mad.

Did he come quietly?