[paxys]

Distance is anyways irrelevant to the conversation. A commercial airplane can fly itself on a fixed path while at cruising altitude basically forever. It's the takeoff, landing and unexpected situations that you have to worry about.

[sargun]

Heh, perhaps we'll end up with inverted-ETOPS, where autonomous airplanes need certifications to spend more than 15, 30, 60 minutes over populated areas (or not water).

[HWR_14]

And clearly with cargo planes, the acceptance of the risk of a crash from an unexpected situation (over an unpopulated area) is a lot higher than if people were on board.