Single-pilot passenger planes soon could take to the skies, says Boeing
The Intelligent Aerospace take:
11 Sept. 2018 -- Existing European aviation rules state that passenger planes with more than 20 seats must have a minimum of two pilots in the cockpit. But Steve Nordlund, a vice president at Boeing, said autonomous technology that would allow for a reduction in on-board crew was being developed at a “good speed."
He said Boeing “believes in autonomous flight and self-piloted aircraft” and the firm's commercial aircraft division was “working on those technologies today. I don't think you'll see a pilotless aircraft of a 737 in the near future,” he says.
He suggested cargo jets could be the first to trial the technology but that it made “business sense” to pursue a reduction in the number of on-board crew on passenger planes, too. “A combination of safety, economics and technology all have to converge, and I think we are starting to see that.”
Related: Two become one? Plane makers work on technology to reduce pilot numbers
Related: L-3 to convert Cessna Caravan single-engine turboprop aircraft to surveillance platforms
John Keller, editorial director
Intelligent Aerospace
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