http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...thread&tid=126


This sounds like a deeply stupid idead.
"Basically, through GPS, if a plane begins to enter a no-fly zone (eg, around a
mountain, or over Lower Manhattan), an alarm goes off in the cockpit. If
ignored, the system actively removes control of the plane away from the pilot
and co-pilot to steer the plane out of the no-fly zone..."

And the pilot could not regain control of the plane. What if the reason for a
detour was another plane popping up in your path, a storm, or losing one engine
in a twin...only to lose total control of the plane?

Their test sample, OTOH, has nothing to do with no-fly zones..."steered the
plane toward a nearby mountain. As the distance between the aircraft and the
mountain closed, the system issued an audible warning: 'Caution, terrain.
Caution, terrain.' With about one minute to spare, the computer took control
of the plane..."

Yes, collision-avoidance gadgets are nice but they have nothing to do with
no-fly zones. You don't prove the worth of one thing by demonstrating another,
and I can't imagine very many situations in which wresting control from a pilot
would make a situation better.