An airplane has, for the first time, automatically landed itself after an in-flight emergency, according to the system’s manufacturer.

Two people emerged unscathed from the Beechcraft Super King Air 200 after it stopped on the runway at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver, according to video posted by emergency responders.

The twin-engine turboprop landed under the control of Garmin’s Autoland system, which the company says is now installed on about 1,700 airplanes. “This was the first use of Autoland from start-to-finish in an actual emergency,” Garmin said in a statement.

  • sramder@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    13 hours ago

    I mean that’s essential when your HAL malfunctions right? ;-)

    I have the upmost respect for pilots… I don’t know that many personally… although one flying lesson comes acutely to mind:

    I was in the back of a small plane, not even sure there was a seat… though I believe there was a lap belt. My old boss was in the passenger seat, his friend was giving the lesson, the GPS was blaring “Altitude, altitude, altitude!” every 30 seconds…

    Took all my self control to concentrate on not crapping my pants :-) But still an amazing experience. Glad I went!

    You make a wonderfully narrative point about the necessity of all those acronyms. I’m curious what was in your pods?