Airborne Separation Assistance Systems

If my experience with touchscreen phones is anything to go by, this can be more disastrous. Imagine non-responsive screens during critical moments...

Luckily aircrafts don't have desktop OSs. The operating systems used in avionics are all customized real-time OSs which are designed not to fail.

That would be a great outcome. The systems are becoming better and better. If, 30 years or so ago, someone had told me that we could actually have vehicles that could drive/fly autonomously successfully, I would have told them we would more likely have flying cars. Guess you can't always be right.

On the other hand, drive by wire--and fly by wire--are valid and in at least some cases have been working for over 20 years. The F-16 specifically has been fly-by-wire since its genesis and other aircraft--including commercial jets--have followed suit. Yes, there's still the potential for catastrophe, but with each new generation the individual risks go down, even if the potential for greater loss of life remains. The bigger the plane, the more lives at risk--but the lower the per-flight risk becomes.

Now, wouldn't you like to see that same outcome on our highways?