Pilotless plane flies over San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A Mountain View company announced this week that it was able to fly a small cargo plane with no one on board. 

The flight of the Cessna 208B Caravan happened just outside San Jose on Nov. 21.

The company, Reliable Robotics, says, unlike some other remote operations, there was no joystick for hand-flying the aircraft..

Rather, a remote pilot in the company's control center is presented with a menu of valid, safe options and must choose from these options. 

Aviation experts expect that advanced automation will be first adopted at scale in the cargo sector.