Yeah, it was just an analogy I thought most would be able to relate to on a more visceral level.
Interestingly, I saw a video a few years ago on the YT channel of a commercial pilot. People had written in asking if an ordinary person could actually be "talked down by the tower" as in a movie. He had a really, really elaborate home flight simulator setup to be able to try it out.
The answer was yes, but that was not the surprising part. IIRC, the young lady subject never actually touched the control stick. Everything was a matter of modes and settings and dials and switches, like the most elaborate climate control ever in a car. The plane pretty much just landed itself given the proper settings.
That was the first time I'd seen it in action like that, but the subject had come up a few years before that. People doubted that the 911 planes could have been flown remotely. Some pilot said that by that time, planes had long been able to take off, fly to the destination, land, and even taxi to the terminal all on autopilot. The only reason they kept pilots is because passengers would freak out and refuse to fly if the cockpit was empty as they walked in.
Yeah, it was just an analogy I thought most would be able to relate to on a more visceral level.
Interestingly, I saw a video a few years ago on the YT channel of a commercial pilot. People had written in asking if an ordinary person could actually be "talked down by the tower" as in a movie. He had a really, really elaborate home flight simulator setup to be able to try it out.
The answer was yes, but that was not the surprising part. IIRC, the young lady subject never actually touched the control stick. Everything was a matter of modes and settings and dials and switches, like the most elaborate climate control ever in a car. The plane pretty much just landed itself given the proper settings.
That was the first time I'd seen it in action like that, but the subject had come up a few years before that. People doubted that the 911 planes could have been flown remotely. Some pilot said that by that time, planes had long been able to take off, fly to the destination, land, and even taxi to the terminal all on autopilot. The only reason they kept pilots is because passengers would freak out and refuse to fly if the cockpit was empty as they walked in.