An airplane has automatically landed itself after an inflight emergency when an “Autoland” system was activated for the first time.
The Beechcraft Super King Air touched down safely at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, Colorado, less than a 30-minute drive northwest of Denver, on Saturday thanks to Garmin’s aircraft safety technology.
The Federal Aviation Administration told multiple outlets two people were on board the twin-engine jet when the pilot lost communication with air traffic control.
“An onboard emergency Autoland system was activated,” the FAA said.
Garmin, known for its fitness watches, confirmed to CBS Colorado that its “Autoland” system was activated, “resulting in a successful landing.”
“This was the first use of Autoland from start-to-finish in an actual emergency,” the company told multiple outlets.
Garmin’s “Autoland” technology, which was released in 2019, directs the plane to a nearby airport for an emergency landing “based upon a variety of conditions, including, but not limited to, weather, terrain, approach, runway and aircraft suitability,” according to the company’s website.
Buffalo River Aviation, the operators of the Beechcraft Super King Air, said in a statement to multiple outlets that the plane “experienced a rapid, uncommanded loss of pressurization,” prompting the emergency landing. There were no passengers on board, according to the charter company.
“As per standard procedures, the two pilots immediately put on their oxygen masks," the company's CEO Chris Townsley said. "The aircraft, equipped with Garmin Aviation's latest Emergency Descent Mode (EDM) and Autoland systems, automatically engaged exactly as designed when the cabin altitude exceeded the prescribed safe levels.”
The pilots, who Townsley says were not incapacitated as reports had suggested, “consciously elected to preserve and use all available tools and minimize additional variables in an unpredictable, emergent situation, prioritizing life and a safe outcome over all other factors, as they are trained to do.”
The North Metro Fire Rescue District in Broomfield, which responded to the emergency landing, wrote on X, “No patients were treated on scene or transported to local hospitals.”
The FAA is investigating the incident.
