Air-Traffic Controller Just Averted a Midair Collision. Now He's Speaking Out

14 psim1 3 5/16/2025, 1:11:17 AM wsj.com ↗

Comments (3)

perihelions · 8h ago
LorenDB · 8h ago
At what point do we replace humans with software here? Obviously we shouldn't remove humans from the loop entirely, but computers should be able to do a lot of the work of detecting and flagging collisions, directing traffic, etc.

Humans will still be needed for the worst events (think the Miracle on the Hudson), but it's not good to put such a mental strain on the ones who are supposed to keep us safe while flying.

chmod775 · 8h ago
> At what point do we replace humans with software here? Obviously we shouldn't remove humans from the loop entirely, but computers should be able to do a lot of the work of detecting and flagging collisions, directing traffic, etc.

At modern airports, a lot of that is in fact handled or assisted by computers.

The US's air traffic control is incredibly technologically outdated compared to its peers. Even 15 years old ATC technology would be an improvement in many cases. Other countries have a lot more automation, allowing them to make do with much fewer controllers.

Some of the systems in the states still use floppy disks!