It is a sad news for the loss of the pilot. My consolation to his family.

Definitely the pilot or co-pilot assistance is very essential in any flight.
Although modern aircrafts are equipped with sophisticated computers which controls the plane throughout the pre-programmed flight path/speeds/heights but without a pilot, a plane cannot handle the initial take off or final descent phases by itself due to the factors mentioned above (i.e flaps adjustment, retracting and deploying the landing gear which are all required during these phases)