AN ADVANCED autopilot that might one day take an aircraft out of the hands of
hijackers and land it safely at an airport has passed its first flight
tests.
Since the horror of 11 September, many ideas for foiling future hijacks have
been suggested. One is a “panic button”, operated by either aircrew or
air-traffic controllers, which would order a plane to seek out the closest
airport and land—while locking the cockpit controls
(Â鶹´«Ã½, 22 September, p 10).
It now appears that a big step towards making this a reality was taken in the
month before the…
