Single pilot cockpit in commercial airlines

[OriginalAppleGuy]

Anyone considering one pilot and comparing it to land based methods of people/goods moving - needs to watch several episodes of Air Disasters. You'll see real life reasons why two pilots are needed. No way only one pilot on commercial flights. Not until the plane does all the flying and the pilot is just there to monitor computers. Like - HAL - when HAL becomes a reality, then maybe one pilot.....with a kill switch. That's important - the kill switch.

 

[bruinsrme]

Last thing I ever want to hear on a plane:

"Attention passengers, the pilot is unfortunately incapacitated, we are asking that anyone with MS Flight Simulator experience to please identify yourself to the flight attendants"

Joking aside and not that I am advocating for this but I wonder how long it will be until a plane can be flown remotely via a "simulator cockpit" in an emergency, cannot be far off.

Took my brother to a real 737 flight sim for his wedding gift.
I asked the licensed pilot about flight sim games.
He said they were actually realistic on a high level. He said it would be easy to talk someone through it. Then he asked but would you want to be on the other side of the cockpit door having a gamer landing the aircraft.
He did mention newer jets are capable of landing without a human.

Me: 6 hours in a 12 hour flight knowing the plane would land itself would still leave me pressed for time in asking for forgiveness for my sins

 

[SnappleRumors]

Took my brother to a real 737 flight sim for his wedding gift.

Interesting. I didn’t know that was possible. May I ask where and the cost? Or are you a pilot with access?
I flew a C5 Galaxy flight training simulator but crashed trying to land in Hawaii in perfect conditions.

 

[bruinsrme]

Interesting. I didn’t know that was possible. May I ask where and the cost? Or are you a pilot with access?
I flew a C5 Galaxy flight training simulator but crashed trying to land in Hawaii in perfect conditions.

Everything down to how the chair slides to the non-smoking light https://www.globalflightadventures.com/

 

[seadragon]

Addresses many points.

 

[hallux]

Not until the plane does all the flying and the pilot is just there to monitor computers

At cruise (really, above 10,000 feet or so, some airlines even allow it as low as 5,000) this is pretty much all they're doing anyway.

He did mention newer jets are capable of landing without a human.

At SOME airports. They need a certain level of ILS in order to land autonomously, and this is not available at all facilities. There could also be a technical issue with the plane that would prevent this from happening (multiple ILS systems in the plane need to function for auto-land). Both Mentour Pilot and Captain Joe have done videos on this, I'm fairly certain.

As for the idea of a single-pilot cockpit - just think back to some crashes that turned out to be a result of a mental break by a pilot, one pilot leaves the cockpit for the restroom then the remaining pilot locked the door and wouldn't let them back in as they flew the plane into a mountain. Those resulted in regulations requiring at least two people in the cockpit at any time during flight, even if one was a cabin attendant. I guess those regulations don't mean anything?

IF this were implemented - to address the issue of the pilot becoming incapacitated they could implement something like the 'dead man's switch' in fishing ships or locomotives. They have to press the button periodically to confirm that the person at the controls is awake/alive, failure to press that switch would result in an indication to ATC that something is up.

BUT - what if the single pilot has an urgent need to use the restroom, a 'code brown' situation?

There are many arguments to NOT do single pilot operation, and I believe US FAA regulations will not allow it, as they are written right now.

 

[satcomer]

That second video brought up a good answer, it doesn't matter what a plane manufacture say it had to go through YEARS of citification at Least!

 

[bruinsrme]

That second video brought up a good answer, it doesn't matter what a plane manufacture say it had to go through YEARS of citification at Least!

At cruise (really, above 10,000 feet or so, some airlines even allow it as low as 5,000) this is pretty much all they're doing anyway.

At SOME airports. They need a certain level of ILS in order to land autonomously, and this is not available at all facilities. There could also be a technical issue with the plane that would prevent this from happening (multiple ILS systems in the plane need to function for auto-land). Both Mentour Pilot and Captain Joe have done videos on this, I'm fairly certain.

As for the idea of a single-pilot cockpit - just think back to some crashes that turned out to be a result of a mental break by a pilot, one pilot leaves the cockpit for the restroom then the remaining pilot locked the door and wouldn't let them back in as they flew the plane into a mountain. Those resulted in regulations requiring at least two people in the cockpit at any time during flight, even if one was a cabin attendant. I guess those regulations don't mean anything?

IF this were implemented - to address the issue of the pilot becoming incapacitated they could implement something like the 'dead man's switch' in fishing ships or locomotives. They have to press the button periodically to confirm that the person at the controls is awake/alive, failure to press that switch would result in an indication to ATC that something is up.

BUT - what if the single pilot has an urgent need to use the restroom, a 'code brown' situation?

There are many arguments to NOT do single pilot operation, and I believe US FAA regulations will not allow it, as they are written right now.

I think the law of averages, brown bags full of cash found by decision makers will ultimately win out.

 

[compwiz1202]

If there is a problem I am sure I can "Google it" or look up a YouTube video and land the plane no problem.

But if there is no inflight WIFI though...

Always makes me think of Airplane: "Can Anybody fly this Plane?" and the ensuing chaos

 

[bruinsrme]

Always makes me think of Airplane: "Can Anybody fly this Plane?" and the ensuing chaos

After all, Ted Striker can't be on every flight

 

[Huntn]

Interested to hear your thoughts on the possibility of commercial aircraft going to single pilot configuration as a cost cutting measure. Personally, the idea scares me. Would you fly on a commercial flight with one pilot in the cockpit? Do you think this will actually happen?

Pilot Of Qantas Flight 32 Blasts Cost-Cutting Plans For Single Pilot Operations

The captain of Qantas flight QF32 openly criticizes the introduction of single-pilot operations in commercial aviation.

simpleflying.com

NOPE. Maybe if you want your airline to massively lose market share. 🤔

 

[Rafterman]

Joking aside and not that I am advocating for this but I wonder how long it will be until a plane can be flown remotely via a "simulator cockpit" in an emergency, cannot be far off.

We can do that now. The military often remote controls test planes for various reasons, and, well, any drone of course.

But the risk of someone hacking it on commercial planes is too great. Can you imagine a terrorist hacking the controls of one or more planes?

 

[icanhazmac]

BUT - what if the single pilot has an urgent need to use the restroom, a 'code brown' situation?

Ooof! I'd hate to have to get out of those seats during a 'clinch' moment.

 

[icanhazmac]

We can do that now. The military often remote controls test planes for various reasons, and, well, any drone of course.

But the risk of someone hacking it on commercial planes is too great. Can you imagine a terrorist hacking the controls of one or more planes?

Absolutely agree, there would need to be significant fail safe procedures if it is even feasible. On that topic hacking military drones would be a disaster as well.

 

[Rafterman]

Absolutely agree, there would need to be significant fail safe procedures if it is even feasible. On that topic hacking military drones would be a disaster as well.

True. In the military's case, the risk is mitigated, due to the point to point encrypted signals they use off of military comms satellites.

 

[bruinsrme]

We can do that now. The military often remote controls test planes for various reasons, and, well, any drone of course.

But the risk of someone hacking it on commercial planes is too great. Can you imagine a terrorist hacking the controls of one or more planes?

Most military planes are not carrying hundreds of people, civilians nevertheless.

 

[seadragon]

Mentour Pilot just posted another video on this topic.

 

[hallux]

Mentour Pilot just posted another video on this topic.

I'm really surprised he didn't mention, as people in the comments on the video called it, "pilot hijacking". The Germanwings crash is the first one of those that comes to mind - pilot experiences mental instability, overrides any computer control and flies the plane into a mountain. Without a second person in the cockpit, this becomes a concern. After Germanwings many, if not all, airlines (or air traffic safety agencies) instituted requirements that there be two people in the cockpit at all times, with a designated crew member to accompany the remaining pilot if one needed to use the lavatory.

 

[mittencuh]

The problem isn’t what would happen in an obscure emergency, the problem is that under single-pilot operation, the increase in workload, especially in congested airspace is just too much. This is too much to ask of one individual on a constant basis and that WILL lead to more incidents.

 

[Huntn]

The problem isn’t what would happen in an obscure emergency, the problem is that under single-pilot operation, the increase in workload, especially in congested airspace is just too much. This is too much to ask of one individual on a constant basis and that WILL lead to more incidents.

I’m going to imagine a highly computerized possibly AI aircraft where the single pilot turns into a glorified caretaker, they might not even need piloting skills, as in up, down, takeoff and land buttons. Look at the evolution of inexpensive commercial drones, they have evolved from something that required some skill to fly, to push the directional buttons.

Back to airplanes I’m not thrilled with the idea of 1 pilot for the reasons already mentioned. I agree that in any current commercial aircraft one pilot is not adequate.

 

[PauloSera]

Interested to hear your thoughts on the possibility of commercial aircraft going to single pilot configuration as a cost cutting measure. Personally, the idea scares me. Would you fly on a commercial flight with one pilot in the cockpit? Do you think this will actually happen?

Pilot Of Qantas Flight 32 Blasts Cost-Cutting Plans For Single Pilot Operations

The captain of Qantas flight QF32 openly criticizes the introduction of single-pilot operations in commercial aviation.

simpleflying.com

Frankly it surprises me that they would even consider this. If you know anything about commercial aviation, the crew in the cockpit is fully utilized in every step of the process. Crews have call and response methodology when going through checklists and procedures and routines. The redundancy is a safety measure that saves lives every single time a plane goes into the sky.

And furthermore, in the U.S. at least, the FAA would never allow it.

 

[JT2002TJ]

It will eventually happen. And given enough time, there will be no pilots. Just like there eventually will be no need for driving your car (cars are getting closer), or pilots actually flying space crafts.

Accidents typically are a result of human error. Computers do make mistakes, but with time and the correct parameters, they will make less than humans in any driving/flying situation.

As stated above, maybe not in the current aircrafts, but it will come.

 

[satcomer]

True. In the military's case, the risk is mitigated, due to the point to point encrypted signals they use off of military comms satellites.

AS a retired Satcom Person encryption has gone in lifetime through 4 upgrades during my time! First was KD-194, Kid-9, As 51 the AES-1024 when I left that field! So you need to upgrade your encryption up and remember CISCO makes specialized routers to do the encryption in! That takes out one step in the line for faster data transfer, you can't buy these routers on market ANYWHERE! With dual processors frees up other routing functions! it really is cutting edge encryption speed today!

 

[Huntn]

It will eventually happen. And given enough time, there will be no pilots. Just like there eventually will be no need for driving your car (cars are getting closer), or pilots actually flying space crafts.

Accidents typically are a result of human error. Computers do make mistakes, but with time and the correct parameters, they will make less than humans in any driving/flying situation.

As stated above, maybe not in the current aircrafts, but it will come.

Twenty years ago, Fed Ex proposed pilotless drones to carry freight from the US to Europe and back. Now they are testing the pilotless part. The thing is, this is freight not passengers. Good luck with the latter.

That said, human beings have more capability to deal with issues than a computer does, but that is with todays aircraft. Eventually if all possible contingencies are thought of and provided for mechanically, the AI computer could be better until it achieves self awareness.

FedEx Plans To Test Drone Cargo Delivery in 2023

FedEx announced its Express division is teaming up with Elroy Air to test out drone cargo systems in 2023.

outsider.com

 

[rhett7660]

Surely you can't be serious.....😆
Even today, it has me in stitches.

What can you make our of this? Why, I can make a hat or a broach or a pterodactyl...

And no, I would not feel safe with only one pilot in a commercial setting. Didn't we just have an issue with a pilot who had a heart attack on a plane recently and he passed away? For some reason, I feel raising the prices even $10-20 per passenger, I would imagine would cover the costs.