News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Driverless Cars Get Green Light in California. Parent comment

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.

[ Parent | on HN ]
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.
[ Parent | on HN ]
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.
[ Parent | on HN ]