THE BOEING UNINTERRUPTIBLE AUTOPILOT
Readers are advised that in 2006, Boeing obtained a patent1 for a system that could assume control of an aircraft from a remote location with or without the transfer of control being directed or authorized by the pilot.
The ABSTRACT of the patent reads as follows:
The method and system for automatically controlling a path of travel of a vehicle include engaging an automatic control system when the security of the onboard controls is jeopardized. Engagement may be automatic or manual from inside the vehicle or remotely via a communication link. Any onboard capability to supersede the automatic control system may then be disabled by disconnecting the onboard controls and/or providing uninterruptible power to the automatic control system via a path that does not include the onboard accessible power control element(s). The operation of the vehicle is then controlled via the processing element of the automatic control system. The control commands may be received from a remote location and/or from predetermined control commands that are stored onboard the vehicle.
Under BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION, the patent reads in column 3 (lines 53–67) and column 4 (lines 1–15) as follows:
[...]
Other aspects of the method and system of the present invention include engaging an uninterruptible autopilot mode to automatically control flight operations of an air vehicle. As such, an autopilot system of the air vehicle may be initiated, such as by transmitting an uninterruptible autopilot mode signal from onboard the air vehicle to the autopilot system. For instance, the uninterruptible autopilot mode signal may be transmitted automatically upon the occurrence of an event onboard the air vehicle. In other embodiments, the uninterruptible autopilot mode signal may be transmitted from a remote location to the autopilot system. [emphasis added] After initiating the autopilot mode, a signal may be transmitted to at least one remote location from the air vehicle to indicate that the uninterruptible autopilot mode of the air vehicle has been engaged.
The onboard manual flight controls are disconnected and an onboard manual power control element is bypassed to directly connect the autopilot system to a power supply, such as by a switching element. As such, the uninterruptible autopilot mode of the air vehicle is engaged. The air vehicle then is automatically navigated and flown without input from onboard the air vehicle, such as by a processing element. Thus, the air vehicle may be automatically navigated away from populated areas and/or to one of a plurality of predetermined landing sites where the air vehicle may be automatically landed. [emphasis added] In some embodiments of the system of the present invention, the processing element may be included in the autopilot system, while in other embodiments, the processing element is separate from the autopilot system.
[...]
Presumably, this system, if in fact it has been implemented, is itself impervious to transient or prolonged capture by “enemies foreign and domestic,” as it were. Right?
— FINIS —
Eric D. Brown et al., Inventors; The Boeing Company, Assignee. System and Method for Automatically Controlling a Path of Travel of a Vehicle. United States Patent No. US 7,142,971 B2 issued Nov. 28, 2006.↩️