Plane Lands Itself After In-Flight Emergency for the First Time

For everyone out there who thinks planes are so automated these days they’re just taking off and landing themselves, leaving the pilots with nothing to do in between, this story is for you. For the first time outside of a demo or test flight, an airplane successfully landed itself after an in-flight emergency.

Contrary to popular belief, this is a line in the sand for the aviation industry that has not been crossed until now, when it was forced to happen to save lives. Not many lives, but lives nonetheless.

On December 20, a Beechcraft Super King Air 200 flying over Colorado experienced a sudden loss of cabin pressure. Garmin’s Emergency Autoland system took over, flew the aircraft, talked to air traffic control, and landed safely at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver.

Operated by charter company Buffalo River Aviation, the flight had no passengers on board, just two pilots who willingly relinquished control while still maintaining control of the situation.

When the cabin altitude exceeded safe levels, the pilots put on oxygen masks. At that point, Autoland automatically engaged, as designed. Rather than disengaging it, the pilots decided to just let it do its thing while keeping their hands close just in case something went wrong. A real “Jesus, take the wheel” kind of moment.

Autoland isn’t the same thing as the autoland systems airlines use in foggy conditions. This technology is built specifically for emergencies where pilots might be incapacitated or overwhelmed. Once it’s activated, either automatically or via a very literal, very conspicuous big red button, the system takes full control. It chooses an appropriate airport based on distance and runway length, communicates with air traffic control using an automated voice, avoids terrain, and lands the plane without human input.

In this case, the system announced to controllers that it had taken over due to “pilot incapacitation,” which, as you can imagine, sparked a little bit of concern at first. Buffalo River Aviation later clarified that this was just how the system reports emergencies, not a literal interpretation of the conditions in the cockpit. The first responder video shows both pilots exiting the craft unharmed after safely landing.

Garmin says Autoland is currently installed on around 1,700 aircraft, mostly smaller private and charter planes. This was the first real-world proof that a fully autonomous emergency landing system can work exactly as intended, under pressure, without a safety net.

The FAA is investigating, but the outcome is promising. The aviation industry might finally have a true failsafe plan that, one hopes, will not panic in an emergency when there are no other options.

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