A cargo plane completed a flight without any crew on board

Reliable Robots, a company in Silicon Valley, has achieved a major milestone by successfully completing the first autonomous flight of a Cessna 208B Caravan cargo plane. Despite taking place on November 21, news of this historic event has just come to light. The unmanned system, developed by Reliable Robots, was installed onto a plane at Hollister Municipal Airport and completed its journey in approximately 12 minutes without any human pilot on board.

The entire process was carried out autonomously, from taxiing to takeoff, cruising, and landing. However, a pilot did oversee the flight remotely from Reliable’s control center, located approximately 50 miles away.

In partnership with Textron Aviation, Reliable Robots equipped the plane with all necessary hardware and software to achieve complete autonomy. It incorporates multiple levels of backup to ensure safety and has the ability to prevent controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and loss of control in flight (LOC-I), which are responsible for the majority of aviation fatalities.

Textron Aviation is renowned in the aviation community for producing Cessna, Beechcraft, and Hawker aircraft. Among these, the Cessna 208B Caravan stands out as a top choice for turboprop utility aircraft worldwide, with over 3,000 units delivered to date. With a cargo capacity of over 3,000 pounds and the ability to take off and land on shorter runways, it is ideal for quick shipments that require same-day or next-day transportation. In time, this system could also be utilized for passenger flights, offering travelers greater flexibility while booking their trips.

In October, Reliable revealed its collaboration with the US Air Force to explore the application of its autonomous flight control system in large multi-engine military aircraft such as the KC-135 Stratotanker refueling jet. The goal is to optimize utilization and enable near-constant operation without the need for concerns like crew repositioning.

Reliable Robots is pursuing FAA approval for its technology and aims to conduct future trials on larger freight planes.