The new Russian supersonic passenger aircraft has already been finalized in its configuration, and it will be built without a traditional windshield. However, in this state, it is unlikely to be certified – the project will still be refined for safety in case of electronics failure, Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR and Chairman of the Civil Aviation Commission of the Public Council of Rostransnadzor, told "Pervy Tekhnichesky".
According to him, in the case of passenger liners carrying up to 300 people, the most important thing to consider is what the crew should do in case of electronics failure.
Electronics, as long as they exist, will fail. The project will be redesigned, but in its current state, without visual observation during landing, the aircraft will not be certified.
Smirnov reminded that the co-pilot is the future aircraft commander. Otherwise, where would they be trained, he wondered. Such attempts to save money, the honored pilot added, are not confirmed by practice – the highest criterion of truth.
Two disasters occurred with the Boeing 737 in Ethiopia and Indonesia, when electronics prevented the crew from controlling the aircraft. The result – 340 dead. What other proof could there be for these "economists" to run ahead of the locomotive? Therefore, it is necessary to find a golden mean to introduce electronics, but to be able to take control in case of any electronics failure.
The honored pilot added that the USSR carried out automatic landing approaches without human involvement back in the 1980s, when it developed the Buran spacecraft. It flew around the globe and landed at an airfield without a person on board.
We have already gone through all this. Also, it is a common phenomenon when an aircraft is controlled by one pilot – there is nothing new here, this is all small aviation. But when it comes to 200-300 passengers, other factors of responsibility come into play. Reducing the crew to one person is an ill-conceived step, which is allegedly aimed at saving airline costs. But in aviation, you can save on everything – save on fuel consumption, airport fees. But saving on flight safety is a taboo for civil aviation. This cannot be done.
Andrey Popov, chief specialist of GosNIIAS for unmanned aerial systems, stated that the supersonic passenger aircraft was approved without a traditional windshield.
