[bongodriver]

Originally Posted by David Hayward

I'm not talking about the current systems, I'm talking about the sort of system that would be needed to replace a human pilot. It would need better sensors to detect obstacles and terrain. It would also need a very detailed mapping system..

In which case you have a point, if the need was desparate enough to eliminate the pilots then I guess they would take it into consideration

Originally Posted by David Hayward

That just is not true. Computers can give a single aircraft crew the combined experience of every pilot in the sky. In a situation like the Hudson crash the computer could inform the pilot immediately whether he can reach a nearby airfield. It could let him know about alternative places to land. It could do all of that much faster than any human could do it.

Remember Jim Lovells anecdote about the bioluminescent algae helping him find his carrier, that's the experience a computer won't have.