This is not a scene from a science fiction movie but scientists have achieved the feasibility of flying an aircraft via brain control - with astonishing accuracy.
Here, the pilot is wearing a white cap with myriad attached cables.
His gaze is concentrated on the runway ahead of him.
All of a sudden, the control stick starts to move, as if by magic.
The airplane banks and then approaches straight on towards the runway.
The position of the plane is corrected time and again until the landing gear gently touches down.
During the entire maneuver, the pilot touches neither pedals nor controls.
"A long-term vision of the project is to make flying accessible to more people," explained aerospace engineer Tim Fricke, who heads the project at the Institute for Flight System Dynamics of the Technische Universitat Munchen.
"With brain control, flying, in itself, could become easier. This would reduce the work load of pilots and thereby increase safety. In addition, pilots would have more freedom of movement to manage other manual tasks in the cockpit," Fricke said.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
