Euro Pundits Devise Single-pilot Ops Plan
Toulouse-based research lab seeks solution to alarm deafness in today's cockpits.
Toulouse-based researchers are monitoring a pilot's brain activity in flight, equipping his head for functional near infrared spectroscopy.
Toulouse-based researchers are monitoring a pilot's brain activity in flight, equipping his head for functional near infrared spectroscopy.

A new job, ground-based pilot, is likely to appear in aviation over the coming two or three decades, according to experts at the French Air and Space Academy (AAE). During a conference in Toulouse on June 1 and 2, they asserted safety trends demonstrate that more automation on board translates into better safety. There is still room for debate, however, as progress in neuroergonomics might reveal ways to compensate for human weaknesses. This would strengthen the case for safety specialists who believe aviation must retain a high level of human presence. They argue that the brain has long proved itself to be effective as master of the cockpit. While research in the man-machine interface sometimes struggles, military experience with the latest-generation unmanned and single-pilot fighters might help automate civil aircraft, including business jets.