US: ALPA and union allies unite against pilot-less aircraft

ALPA and other US pilot groups have come out swinging against proposed legislation that calls for the FAA to study single-piloted cargo aircraft. "You don't make flying safer by removing pilots from the cockpit," ALPA president Tim Canoll says Wednesday. "The flying public would simply not accept the lower level safety that would result." ALPA and several other unions likewise issued a joint media release saying they wanted "Congress to know how reckless passage of a bill with this provision would be". The House version of the FAA's reauthorisation bill would order the FAA and other federal agencies to "establish a research and development program in support of single-piloted cargo aircraft assisted with remote piloting and computer piloting". <br/>