The NTSB has found "pilot error" as the main causal factor behind a Predator crash back in April 2006 according to The Washington Post:
The pilot's computer console locked up, investigators said. He started to transfer control to a backup console used by Customs agents to operate the drone's cameras but did not follow a checklist that required him to make sure the engine controls on the second console matched the ones he had been using.
Because the second console's controls were in the fuel shut-off position, investigators said, the Predator-B's engine quit when control was switched.
The pilot, who did not understand why his plane kept descending, turned off ground communication with the drone to trigger its automatic emergency responses, according to investigators. Under such conditions, the plane should have climbed to 15,000 feet and circled above a designated spot until communication was reestablished. But without engine power, the plane crashed.
The pilot told investigators that he didn't follow the checklist because he was in a hurry, said Pam Sullivan, an NTSB investigator.
Under Customs guidelines, the pilot did not have enough hours on the Predator-B to fly the plane without an instructor in the room, and the instructor was in another building, Sullivan said.
Ah, sweet solace. It does an aging aviator's heart good to see the more things change, the more they stay the same.
.22lr
How a UAV is better than a "real" airplane?
Three words:
Francis
Gary
Powers.
Whether you know it or not automation is the way of the future. I've had to adjust mixture controls on an airplane, but when's the last time you had to deal with that in a car? The answer is: You don't have to because of the advent of Full Authority Digital Engine Controls. Driving a car on land is actually a much tougher problem than flying in air, for one, you don't have to worry about boulders and the like when you fly.
In addition there are many jobs that shouldn't or can't be done by a pilot. Do you want to sit at 80K feet for 40+ hours while the electronics in the plane conduct surveillance? That problem is easily handled by a Global Hawk.
UAV automation is at it's very infancy and you all are kidding yourselves if you think that a human being is going to be in the cockpit of a lot of planes in the future. Fighters and other tactical craft still require a pilot, but an R2D2 type assistant is a definite possibility.
You still need to work on your spelling/grammer son, as Fredrich Von Steuben once said:
"A Corporal or Sergent who cannot read or write cannot be considered adequately qualified."
Posted by: Takeo at October 19, 2007 11:05 AM