AN OLD AVIATORS’ joke goes like this: In the future, airline cockpit crews will consist of one pilot and a dog. The pilot is there to feed the dog, the dog is there to bite the pilot if he touches any of the controls. Today, we’re just about there. Autonomous unmanned aircraft have been flying for a long time now, fighting our wars and patrolling our borders. On paper, at least, we already have the technology to take the humans out of the cockpit and prevent tragedies like last week’s Germanwings crash in the French Alps

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/air-force-tech-couldve-averted-germanwings-crash/