Researchers at NASA have been looking into the possibility of commercial airliners being flown by a single pilot.
A join study by NASA and Rockwell Collins Inc. has been exploring whether a plane can be flown solo while a co-pilot on the ground offers support during the flight and assists during approach and landing.
The four-year $4 million study will involve simulations and potentially live test flights with a single pilot.
Rockwell Collins has worked with NASA on drone technology before, and is also reportedly working on pilot voice recognition.
The first phase of the study will be published today.
Parimal Kopardekar, leading the research at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, said changes needed to reconfigure a cockpit for a solo pilot "may be too expensive and may be too difficult" to gain approval by regulators.
Plane-maker Boeing predicts over 500,000 new pilots will be needed over the next 20 years based on the existing pilot and co-pilot deployment.
"I certainly think that we¹re moving toward pilotless airliners," Rockwell Collins engineer Geoff Shapiro told CNN.
