A Cessna 208B Caravan plane took off, cruised, and landed in about 12 minutes with no one on board. On November 21, the “monumental aviation achievement” took place at Hollister Municipal Airport in San Benito County, California.
“This industry-first flight is a demonstration of remote operation of the world’s most popular cargo plane, highlighting that the technology works and is within reach,” said Robert Rose, co-founder and CEO of Reliable Robotics, in an interview with Forbes. “The technical achievement furthers our goal of developing an advanced automation system that can be certified under the Federal Aviation Administration’s exacting Part 23 airworthiness standards for normal category aircraft. The ability to certify the system under existing regulations without special conditions or exemptions is critical to its safe integration into the National Airspace System (NAS).”
Furthermore, Reliable Robots has collaborated with the US Air Force on remote piloting since 2021 and is a member of ASL Aviation Holdings’ CargoVision forum, a global aviation services company dedicated to exploring innovative aviation technologies.
The video provides a 360-degree view of the cockpit
The autonomation system for the aircraft was supplied by the company, which is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Although there was no pilot on board, pilot Danah Tommalieh remotely controlled the plane from Reliable’s control center 50 miles away.
In contrast to other remote operations, no joysticks or manual controls were available for hands-on flying. Instead, as Rose explained, the remote pilot was presented with a menu of “valid, safe options” from which to choose.
Commands are validated to ensure that they do not put the aircraft in jeopardy, such as flying too close to the ground or flying too fast or too slow. According to Rose, all takeoffs and landings are fully automated.
The Cessna Caravan, with a cargo capacity of over 3,000 pounds, can take off and land on short runways, according to the company. This feature improves its utility in reaching locations that would otherwise be difficult to reach.
“This monumental aviation achievement is a great example of how AFWERX accelerates agile and affordable capability transitions for the world’s greatest Air Force,” said Col. Elliott Leigh, AFWERX director and chief commercialization officer for the Department of the Air Force, in a statement. “This milestone accelerates dual-use uncrewed flight opportunities, increasing aviation safety and enabling us to bring a broad range of autonomous military capabilities into denied environments.”