US Air Traffic Grounded by AI Glitch, Pilotless Flights Expand
a new ai-infused air traffic control system caused a national groundstop, while pilotless flights reach 3200 miles without human intervention. air travel industry faces reliability and safety concerns.
on september 27, us transportation secretary sean duffy introduced smart, a new ai-infused air traffic control system, on social media. however, on october 13, the faa issued a national groundstop due to a communications failure, with homeland security secretary markwayne mullin unable to rule out ai failure. meanwhile, a pilotless cessna caravan flew 3200 miles from california to north carolina with a safety pilot on board who never intervened. this milestone marks a significant step in ai adoption in aviation, which has been historically conservative. the industry faces huge changes, promising to remake the economics of air travel and transform how people and things move around in the sky, but concerns about reliability and safety remain.