Caravan flies with no one on board

Air aviation news – Reliable Robotics successfully completed the flight of a Cessna 208B Caravan, with no pilot on board, on Nov. 21, 2023.

A remote pilot supervised the uncrewed aircraft flying near Hollister, California, from Reliable’s control center 50 miles away, according to officials with the Mountain View, California-based company.

A video posted to YouTube allows viewers to go into the cockpit and scroll around it for a 360° experience, company officials noted.

The Reliable autonomous flight system enables the aircraft to be remotely operated by a pilot on the ground. According to company officials, this improves safety by fully automating the aircraft through all phases of operation, including taxi, takeoff, and landing.

“Reliable’s system is aircraft agnostic and utilizes multiple layers of redundancy and advanced navigation technology to achieve the levels of integrity and reliability necessary for uncrewed flight,” company officials said. “The system will prevent controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and loss of control in flight (LOC-I), which account for the majority of fatal aviation accidents.”

The FAA formally accepted the certification plan for Reliable’s autonomous flight system in June 2023. The certification plan leverages existing regulations for normal and transport category aircraft, and does not require any special conditions or exemptions, company officials added.

source: https://generalaviationnews.com/2023/12/09/caravan-flies-with-no-one-on-board/