Reply to post: Re: what does a plane autopilot do?

Tesla driver killed after smashing into truck had just enabled Autopilot – US crash watchdog

Donn Bly

Re: what does a plane autopilot do?

"No. If you are flying VFR and using autopilot to maintain a constant speed and altitude, you are still scanning the sky and the instruments. Visual Flight Rules require that the pilot is always looking for traffic."

In other words, just like autopilot in a Telsa where the rules say you are supposed to keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

The point is that when those rules aren't followed then the two aircraft can and will fly into each other and the autopilot won't take evasive action on its own (unless equipped with TCAS, which most small general aviation craft are not). Mid-Air collisions are rare, but they do happen when people don't follow the rules. As such, your answer should have been "yes" instead of "no".

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