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A comment on Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated. Parent comment

Re:Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pil... by KennyBlanken on Wednesday May 11, 2022 @02:10PM (#31343694)
The autopilot declares an emergency via transponder code and radio calls, which means suddenly everything else in the sky is moved out of your way for you and you're given near-exclusive use of whatever airport the autopilot picks.

This does not bring us closer to "flying cars."

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Re:Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pil... by moffkalast on Wednesday May 11, 2022 @05:33PM (#31346112)
You mean like when cars turn on emergency blinkers any everything moves out of your way?
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Re:Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pil... by KennyBlanken on Thursday May 12, 2022 @12:54PM (#31356706)
A pilot declaring an in-flight emergency gets near authority over the airspace they are in. After confirming the declaration fuel/passenger count, the next question a controller usually asks is "what are your intentions?", ie "what are you going do, so we can get everyone out of your way?"

I've never heard a controller get more authoritative than politely ask the pilot if they'll consider something or are able to do something.

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