The disappearing pilot

摘要

There is a new fundamentalism in commercial aviation - that single-pilot and pilotless operations, supported by ground-based pilots, are inevitable. This article will challenge such ideology around 'distributed crewing'. It will show that it is sustained by self-interest, mendacity, greed and myopia - for example, by universities seeking research monies and academics seeking promotion. Through case studies, and with the aid of theory, it will also demonstrate the enduring necessity of a two-pilot flight-deck. Advocates of single-pilot and pilotless commercial aircraft ground their advocacy in various beliefs. For example: 1. Aviation's improving safety record demonstrates that flying is neither difficult nor dangerous One of the claims made for the Space Shuttle was that it would make spaceflight routine - no more dangerous than flying. The loss of the shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and of Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two, showed that spaceflight is anything but routine. Space is intolerant of the smallest weakness or miscalculation. Today, the same specious argument is being applied to aviation. Technology, it is claimed, can make a safe activity safer -routine, in fact. As recent disasters demonstrate, however, flying is never routine. It is enduringly challenging.