Did you ever do a landing ?
The tower tells you which track, perhaps it is the 09,
perhaps the 27, depending on local winds. When the
track(s) are busy, the tower tells you to stand by
at Echo at 2500 feet, the tower also warns you about
an approaching aircraft from the west at possibly
2000 feet. On the same airport, there also are gliding
planes operating. Watch them too. These guys are allowed
to radio in the local language, and they gladly do that.
The gliders have the right of way, by the way. They
cannot start through, nor take another round.
An automatic approach would be challenging, and
possibly be successful if all involved were cooperating.
In case of an accident, the insurances are known not
to be cooperating.
Rene
Never flown an aircraft, actually.
In an emergency, the onboard computer could send a message to the
nearest airport, requesting permission to land; if no response came
from that airport, or if permission were denied, the computer would
send a message to the next closest airport, continuing the process
until the computer decides that a field landing would be wisest before
fuel runs out.
Granted, the plane would probably need to know the local geology, so
that it doesn't plow into a mountain while trying to land.
If permission were granted, the airport would pretty much have to
close the runways to all other traffic, while the plane tried to
land. (Unless the firmware were really sophisticated, and could play
nicely with other pilots.)
Alternatively, if the onboard computer decided pilots were
incapacitated (no one responds to a voice warning for 15 minutes, for
instance) the computer could request the nearest control tower to
"land" the plane wirelessly via joystick. This would require the
necessary hardware be installed at each tower, though.
Michael