Re:Driverless Cars Get Green Light in California
by neurotech1 on Tuesday September 25, 2012 @08:33PM
(#4573579)
Actually, for commercial airliners its "worse". They require both a pilot and co-pilot behind the yoke, even in autopilot.
If an airliner is flown with less than two crew in the cockpit, even for a short period of time, the remaining pilot/co-pilot must wear a mask when flying above 25,000ft.
Re:Driverless Cars Get Green Light in California
by waterlesscloud on Tuesday September 25, 2012 @09:00PM
(#4573673)
Airliners used to have a third crew member, the Flight Engineer, but that job has been automated into oblivion.
Re:Driverless Cars Get Green Light in California
by neurotech1 on Tuesday September 25, 2012 @10:15PM
(#4573899)
A friend mentioned that non-scheduled (no passengers or commercial freight) flights in large aircraft (eg. 737) can still operate with a single-pilot and a rated flight engineer only. The pilot had to have her mask on (or clipped to the helmet) for the entire flight. This option is rarely done commercially, obviously.
Commercial planes have had autopilot for years, but they still require at least the pilot or co-pilot to sit behind the yoke.
When driverless cars have had a few million or billion hours without statistically significant incidents, I think we'll see the laws adapt to not even requiring a human fail-safe.