Pilotless planes could be airborne in just a year using drone technology says Boeing chief
Mike Sinnett says the 'basic building blocks' are already in place for self-flying jets
PILOTLESS planes could be airborne in a year, an airline chief reckons.
Mike Sinnett said the “basic building blocks of technology” are already in place for self-flying jets.
The vice-president of product development at US aerospace giant Boeing plans to test tech similar to that used in drones in a cockpit simulator later this summer.
Speaking yesterday before the Paris Air Show, Mr Sinnett said he then hoped to fly a plane next year using “artificial intelligence that makes decisions that pilots would make”.
Aircraft can take off, cruise and land using their onboard flight computers and the number of pilots on a standard passenger plane has dropped from three to two in recent years.
But the growing demand for air travel means 1.5million more pilots are expected to be needed in the next 20 years.
Mr Sinnett stressed that safety was a top priority.
He said any pilotless aircraft would have to be able to land in an emergency as well as Captain Chesley Sullenberger — who ditched his Airbus A320 in New York’s Hudson River in 2009, saving 155 people.
Mr Sinnett declared: “If it can’t, then we can’t go there.”
The move would also face regulatory hurdles.
Mr Sinnett said: “I have no idea how we’re going to do that. But we’re studying it and developing those algorithms.”