I'm guessing you dont know the number of systems failures that occur daily due to computer or data issues on aircraft? You might be surprised. So based on that I believe my comment above to be valid.
I would be curious to see how a computer would have handled this incident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas_Flight_32 Long but good video about the incident:
What are you going to do, send the airliner from ORD to LAX with no pilot? Isn’t then the ground observer going to step in to adjust the flight as needed?
You forget the bigger piece of the puzzle. Public perception. No way in hell are 200 people going to board a domestic flight without a pilot behind the controls. I know I wouldn't. Hell, we don't even have autonomous trains yet. The best we can do is shuttle rail in airport terminals. The amount of decision making in a commercial jetliner departing a wet runway, flying through ice, circumnavigating around thunderstorms, and dealing with an emergency is something that a passenger isn't going to trust a computer with. They've been touting autonomous driving tech for the past decade. Look at where we are today. This is puff publicity.
If I owned an airline, I'd make the first pilot-less airplanes first-class only. Then I'd give free rides to a couple of Kardashians in return for their gushing on social media about the awesomeness of the autonomous plane. And just like that, the public will no longer be squeamish about not having pilots.
I’ve been trying to think how to respond to your posts. We actually do train for a complete engine failure like Sully. One of my last sims I landed a the plane in Boston Harbor with both engines shut down. I’ve also, in the sim, had a dual engine flameout at altitude. There is a check list and if we get an engine started a drift down table. We got one engine running and landed at the nearest suitable airport per the check list. If the AUS 767 would have been a drone it would have landed on the runway like it was programmed to do, IMHO. I enjoy PofA since I retired. I’ve been flying CE172s and PA28s. I am relearning the GA world. However up until last year I was a 33 year FedEx pilot with 21 years in the left seat of a wide body including the last 6 in my favorite airplane, the 767. Fly safely and have fun doing it!
The real problem is any decisions made in the future regarding autonomous flight will likely be made by people that have no idea what they are doing.
You could be right, but what I'm saying is that whatever the number is, it's likely to be worse if they try to turn the full range of PIC responsibilities over to AI.
