Flying in the U.S., Europe and Australia is significantly safer than driving a car. Your current odds of being in a fatal accident are one in 11 million, whereas travelling by car lowers the odds to roughly one in 5000. Without taking away from the tragedy and loss of victims of crashes, the safety of flight must be preserved and improved even as we explore the new frontier of autonomous flight.
Today, some commentators have even argued that autonomous flight is likely to become a reality much earlier than autonomous driving. Unmanned eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts) are now being manufactured and are undergoing certification processes. A distinct but related issue is the extent to which artificial intelligence (AI) may be used in autonomous flight; for example, a passive sensor may eventually mimic human analysis onboard. Yet the legal regime around autonomous flight is still under development, as well as the distinct legal issues posed by AI. Having an accurate sense of how the legal regime will evolve to balance the need to innovate in aviation against protecting the public at large will help manufacturers, investors and operators better navigate this sector.