“How automatic is the automatic pilot on an aeroplane? And can we do away with human pilots altogether?

Answer 1

I've been flying and fixing A/C since I was 16. As both a pilot and an engineer I can tell you that Auto pilot and flight control systems are nice but in a real emergency they are turned off. This is simply done because no mater how sophisticated the program is it doesn't have the ability to anticipate. It only reacts to real time inputs from the avionics and compares that to predefined parameters within the software.
Therefore, to answer your first question they are automatic in that they do exactly what the pilot programs them to do. Your second question is much easier. No. there is no substitute for the ability to anticipate inherent in the human mind.
The USAF is attempting to field fighter drones without a pilot. The current thinking on this is that that's fine as there are no lives being put at risk, unlike an airliner.

Answer 2

In answer to this question, it depends on the system at is fitted to the aircraft. The autopilot is not a requirement of any JAA ruling for airline transport aircraft, but the CAA being what they are, won't actually allow a carrier to operate with out one.
Some of the comments on here are valid if only half the story.
Most autopilots are connected to the FDS, the IRS the EFIS, ILS, the airport equipment actually determines how much Automation can be used by the aircraft. ie for a CAT5 auto system, the aircraft will start to taxi the aircraft once "off block", line up the aircraft and manage the takeoff, then intercept the course waypoints as programmed into the IRS and even change the freq of the radio at the set times so that the flight crew can talk to the correct ATC, the aircraft having completed the sectors will then bring the aircraft onto the ILS localiser of the correct and preprogrammed runway and land the aircraft, the DH or decision height for the crew to abort the landing i believe is 100ft,agl above the runway threshold height. But that is a CAT 5 system, due to age of aircraft, and advances in tech, most aircraft will have a system of some kind, the most prolific being upto CAT3, which most major airports will be able to handle, in this system, the crew will taxi, lign up and take the aircraft off, but at around 400ft the autopilot will be engaged. it is not the pilots don't like to fly far from it, but the systems now employed by the airlines will infact flight the aircraft safely and more importantly at a preprogrammed level of economey, and within a set of guidlines which provide passager comfort.

in a nutshell the computers and automation of the flightdeck has reduced the number of hull losses over the last twenty years, with TCAS and GPWS both adding so much value to this reduction, but, the CAA/JAA still reconise that the human pilot is still a valid requirment, in as much as the the crew have the ability to control the unusual over a computer, so much so that it is still a question in the Human performance and limitation exam.

Answer 3

The simple answer is this: Most autopilots will hold a course, speed and altitude better than many humans can. Many of the newer systems can actually take off and land as well. However, I sure wouldn't put myself in an aircraft that didn't have a real person in charge.

As to the doigpatch who apparently thought he was funny by answering, "They already have. There haven't been real pilots on commercial jets for years. The airline industry doesn't like people to know this, that's why they make sure the door to the cockpit is always closed". Sir, I sincerely hope you're never in an aircraft when something really goes wrong. If you were, I assure you, you'd be glad to have a real pilot up there. Computers are great, but they still can't do everything a person can. I wouldn't want you as a passenger on my aircraft.

I suggest, doigpatch, that you stick to answering questions about investing and real estate. You seem to have real knowledge along those lines. In this case, "funny" isn't helping this person get an answer to his legitimate autopilot question.

Answer 4

Automatic Flight Control Systems and Area Navigation Systems are capable of controlling the aircraft through every phase of the flight. They can fly an aircraft more precisely than a human pilot, meaning they are better suited to navigating the aircraft through crowded airways. Are they safe? The automated system has to meet strict safety requirements, with safety critical errors occurring 1 in 10000000000 hours. Can we get rid of human pilots? We could if we needed to, but humans are very good at adaptive thinking. A computer finds it difficult to respond to an unknown situation. Aircraft are designed to use the best qualities of both automation and human. I have been involved in designing such systems and I would not want to fly without a pilot.

Answer 5

The automatic is only automatic once it is switched on by a human.

As far as I'm aware all commercial aircraft taxi, take off and land under human control. The auto pilot being used to maintain the proper course once the aircraft is in the air.

The auto pilot could do it all though.

In most emergency situations it is better to have a human in control, although many crashes are blamed on human error

Answer 6

The most basic Autopilot simply holds course or altitude, but the advanced ones could fly an entire sortie, including take off and landing. It's just that mankind is weary of letting computers take over fully. Which is understandable. I repair Autopilot systems, and I know they're very good, but when I board a plane, I'd prefer a pilot at the yoke, just incase the Autopilot fails.

Answer 7

It is possible for a plane to take off, fly somewhere and land automatically, but it doesn't happen in practice.

The pilots do most of the hard stuff.

You have to remember that computers are only as good as the man who programmed them. They are not perfect and cannot interpret every possible scenario. That is why there is a pilot up there - for when the unforseen happens.

Answer 8

They can do quite abit but thinlk about it it, would you get on a plane with no one there to correct any mistakes a computer could possibly make. Oh and theres hundreds of incidents when the plane is being flown by autopilot and the pilots are actualy asleep.

Answer 9

Actually, modern flight director systems can do it all from takeoff through landing. The L-1011 was the first to introduce auto-landing, back in the 1970s; it's become passe today.

But it will never replace pilots. If only because a machine cannot replace a thinking human in an emergency situation. Oh, yeah, and to taxi to and from the runway. ;)

Answer 10

The C141 built in the 1960's had an AWLS All Weather Landing System installed on it that would basically get the airplane on the ground by itself, even the flare at 40 feet.

I don't think we've regressed in the past 40 years...