Current Developments and Challenges in Civil Aviation Automation and Solutions to Address Them in the Future

Aviation autonomy has advanced rapidly. Nevertheless, most civil aviation aircrafts still fall into the category of level-3 or level-4 automation, far from the goal of level-5 complete autonomy. With newly developed automation systems like the CAPS and the implementation of AutoSOAR systems and the NASA TASAR project, they will be a leap forward in automation technology in the near future. Nevertheless, there are also many technical and regulatory challenges: technically, problems of unreliable sensors, complex system integration, and the difficulty of verifying artificial intelligence for safety-critical decisions occur; regulatorily, distrust in reliability and outdated regulations in the regime of flight automation occur. They are all restricting the development and application of such automation systems. That being said, more mature automation systems and more robust safety and reliability tests must take place, along with the introduction of guidance documents from authorities to fully address the challenges. It is believed that with more reliability tests and developments and proper guidance documents, flight automation systems will take a lead forward and benefit the aviation industry.