( CNN ) -- `` We 're ready to take control '' confirms Bob Fraser , a well-seasoned pilot who has been flying for 37 years . `` And proceed , '' replies flight test engineer Duncan Casey . Fraser and Casey are looking at computer display screens , tracking the position of a modified BAE Jetstream 31 aircraft flying north towards Scotland -- but there is one vital difference . Casey is high in the sky while Fraser has his feet firmly on the ground . Casey is one of the flight test engineers onboard the test aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art drone technology along with the two pilots in the cockpit for the take-off and landing phases . After taking-off and climbing to an altitude of 7,000 feet , the pilots hand over to the flight test engineers who in turn hand over to Fraser . Fraser is responsible for navigating the aircraft on a pre-planned route . Calmly in front of his computer , he taps in coordinates to make the plane turn left and right , clearing it with air traffic control as any other pilot onboard would do . `` Flying an unmanned vehicle is not as much fun as flying a normal aircraft , however it has a lot of similar challenges , '' explained Fraser from the comfort of his armchair cockpit . See also : The rise of zombie airports . BAE Systems granted CNN exclusive access to one of their test flights in early July , allowing passengers aboard for the first time in the process . At the time of filming , the plane had already racked up 480 flight hours using specialist drone technology developed over the past six years as part of the $ 94 million ASTRAEA program . The project has brought together a consortium of six companies , BAE Systems , QinetiQ , Thales , Rolls Royce , Cobham and AOS . With increased automation in the cockpit , hopes are high that planes like those controlled by Fraser can fly further and longer . For those at the cutting edge of the industry , this is an exciting milestone . `` It 's probably the next major step in aviation , it 's a bit like introducing the jet engine , '' said ASTRAEA program director , Lambert Dopping-Hepenstal . `` It 's a new branch of aviation all together . '' `` ( Next ) we 've got to find ways of introducing technology to replace the man on the aircraft and indeed amending the regulations . All the ( current ) regulations assume a pilot to be onboard the aircraft and that 's the way it 's been for the past 100 years or so . '' BAE Systems and partners need to prove to regulators that it is possible for unmanned aircraft to fly safely in commercial airspace . `` As industry , we 'd like a full set of regulations to build something to . The regulators would like us to show them a product . The problem is , because there is a big gap between our understanding of manned aircraft and unmanned aircraft , we somehow have got to work together to bridge that gap and that 's what the ASTRAEA programme is all about , '' says Dopping-Hepenstal . However unmanned passenger flights are unlikely to be taking-off in the near future at least . Instead , Dopping-Hepenstal believes the technology could first be adopted for cargo flights and for aircraft operating during hazardous emergencies such as wildfires . These developments could then be fed back into military design and used to make commercial aircraft safer . See also : How to travel using apps not maps . The technology tested by BAE Systems could also be transferred to other industries outside aviation . `` We are only limited by the power of our imagination with this technology and capability , '' said Ruth Mallors , Director of the Aerospace Knowledge Transfer Network ( AKTN ) . `` What is important ( is ) that drones are not just airborne , they are water and land based too ... . the Mars Rover is an autonomous vehicle in many aspects . `` There are many capabilities that are crying out for this technology -- agriculture , surveillance , inspection regimes -- but the breakthroughs will be where we discover applications of the technology not yet thought through . '' For seasoned pilots such as Fraser , however , the potential of this technology is about far more than the prospect of a profitable new industry. `` I think there will be a number of people for instance who ca n't fly ( now ) -- they 're airsick or wheelchair-bound -- they 're not capable of being in the air . For them this will be an exciting future . ''
CNN goes aboard a modified BAE Jetstream 31 test aircraft as it flies above northern England . The aircraft is manned by a crew in the sky but controlled by a pilot on the ground . Unmanned flight is an exciting milestone for those at the cutting edge of the aviation industry .