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Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by btgeekboy on Monday August 31, 2020 @03:54PM (#24335307)
There is at least one autonomous system on the market today that can do just that - find the nearest airport and land.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/

Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by homero on Monday August 31, 2020 @04:53PM (#24335822)
That's pretty incredible for those small planes that I doubt have all the sensors jets do
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by btgeekboy on Monday August 31, 2020 @09:55PM (#24337789)
You'd be surprised. Typically, you'll find that jetliners are older and therefore have an older tech stack, but also that they're redundant. Multiple pitot tubes, for example. On newer GA planes, there may be less redundant sensors, but the technology running them can be more modern and more powerful. The tools on the jet get the job done with two pilots and are there to make money, while the GA airplane is going to be piloted single pilot, and more likely for pleasure.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by TylerE on Monday August 31, 2020 @05:24PM (#24336111)
GPS gets you 99.9% of the way there. Runways are 100+ft wide. 10ft precision is fine.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by outworlder on Monday August 31, 2020 @06:52PM (#24336675)
If the runway does happen to have ILS, there's another authoritative source of information too.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by asdfasgasdgasdg on Monday August 31, 2020 @06:52PM (#24336670)
Moreover, high end dual frequency GPS receivers like you'd surely put in a plane will typically have sub-meter precision.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by meheleventyone on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @03:05AM (#24339231)
Depending on the environment? GPS is still susceptible to signal reflection and LoS blocking.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by usrusr on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @05:28AM (#24339925)
Sure, depending on the environment. But when an aircraft is in one of those environments where reflections and line of sight to satellites are an issue, GPS accuracy is the least of your concerns.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by ehnto on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @04:03AM (#24339537)
This is in regards to an emergency response system, so an attacker would have to wait for an emergency to attack and well, you may as well just see how it pans out naturally rather than risk jail time to try and coerce an accident that might already be happening.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by meheleventyone on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @05:27AM (#24339919)
It’s not (just) about attack though. If you have your emergency in a place where the surrounds cause GPS to be inaccurate you cannot rely on GPS. Ergo since you cannot plan where to have an emergency relying on GPS is not sufficient.
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by kcolford on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @11:51AM (#24343104)
I don't believe LoS blocking is really an issue as you approach an airport runway from above...
Re:FedEx feeder plane takes flight without pilot in test for... by meheleventyone on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @07:13AM (#24352077)
If you can make sure you only have emergencies when near an airport then you've already solved a lot of the hard problems.