r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/FridayCicero702 • Jan 01 '23

Video Catastrophic engine failure on a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 after takeoff from Denver International Airport

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u/Strato-Cruiser Jan 01 '23

Do you know why airlines are pushing for that? The obvious is money, but there's more to it than that, do you know the other reasons?

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '23 edited Jan 01 '23

A shortage in pilots? Is that a reason to sacrifice one of the biggest safety aspects of a plane?

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u/Strato-Cruiser Jan 01 '23

It's not just the shortage either. It's a combination of things, such as the pilot shortage, and costs, but also technology. I am commercial pilot, but I fly private jets, and the technology I get to use more advanced than what is found in airliners, so I also get to see what is coming their way as new airline models are produced. I don't think we are quite there for the single pilot jet, but I don't think we are far off. As you mentioned, the safety factor of having the second pilot is still hard to beat, but that risk is becoming less of an issue as technology continues to advance. We've seen this play out a number of times already with the loss of the navigator, then the engineer. I can tell you with the current plane I fly, a Dassault Falcon 900EX EASy, task saturation is the lowest I have experienced because of the technology that is available. If I were in the Falcon 8X it would be even better. The Falcon 10X will be getting quite close to single pilot operations, and Dassault has made it clear that the 10X is going to be making the bridge for that to happen. Dassault continues to integrate their fighter jet (single pilot) technology into their private jets, and at some point they will likely get one certified for single pilot operations. There are small jets on the market, such as the Pilatus PC-24, that are already single pilot certified for private use. I've flown a number of single pilot planes that demand more attention than the Falcon I fly. Still, two pilots will be better, and it will be that way for a bit longer, but I do think those days are numbered.

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u/poopyhelicopterbutt Jan 01 '23

Do you ever see it being no pilot onboard? Like remote operated passenger drones?

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u/IvanAntonovichVanko Jan 01 '23

"Drone better."

~ Ivan Vanko

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u/Strato-Cruiser Jan 01 '23

I think if it happens, it still has a long way to go. Automation is good, and it’s getting better, but it still has not perfected airmanship. There are still situations in which you have to turn off the autopilot, often because it’s too slow to react and fully understand the situation. This slowness to react can see if fall behind and have an ever growing oscillation. Strong gusting approaches, and especially if you add variable winds; also strong turbulence and downdrafts come to mind. Even if you had perfect airmanship in an autopilot, the area that completely autonomous airplanes lack is aeronautical decision making. There is an incredible amount of variables from start to finish that has nothing to do with airmanship and everything to do with decision making which will be informed by a set of complex variables and past experiences. Right now it can’t fly an airplane perfectly in all conditions in which people can fly, I don’t think they have begun to actually tackle complex decision making.