Easy Button for Business Aviation: Autoland

Aviation safety has made giant leaps in its history because of automation. For each advancement, there is a learning curve for pilots to understand how to use—while not becoming entirely dependent on—the layers and options of automation. Among the leaps in innovations of automation are the fallback systems that can help get an aircraft safely on the ground when all else fails. For example, in business aviation, there are now automatic systems that can recognize if the pilots are incapacitated due to a lack of oxygen and will fly the aircraft down to a safe, breathable altitude. But that's just the beginning of what's on the horizon.

One of the first fallback systems was the idea of "autoland" systems, which began shortly after World War II. The original use was to have additional guidance for just the approach and landing segment of flight and have it work in conjunction with precision Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) which had just started being installed at major airports. Sometimes there just isn't a good alternate within the range of the aircraft's fuel supply; so autoland was originally used as an emergency procedure at an airport that was below weather minimums.

The earliest autoland systems began in the 1960s and the basic concept remains today. It requires pilots to set up the aircraft-specific Flight Management System, autothrottle, and couple the multiple autopilot systems appropriately. There are layers of redundancy in these systems and the pilots, aircraft, and airport need to have the capability and training to be authorized for a CAT II/III landing. Passengers may think that airplanes are landing themselves, but autoland is only used in less than 1% of all landings and instrument approaches and it takes extensive pilot input and observation to set up and use the system.

As the general aviation sector grew, so did the idea of having a last resort type of automated system to save the aircraft if all else failed. Whole plane ballistic parachute recovery systems (Ballistic Recovery Systems BRS and Cirrus Airframe Parachute Systems CAPS) started hitting the market in the 1980s, and these parachute systems could lower an entire aircraft to the ground in the event of loss of control or structural failure or other inflight emergencies like a midair collision or fuel exhaustion. A passenger could also activate the system if their pilot became incapacitated. Their use is only for the rarest situations. Basically, a Hail Mary to save you from a crash, but the automation continues to expand.

Business aviation has made another leap in innovation with the announcement by Elliott Aviation that they have installed a Garmin Autoland upgrade in a King AirB200. It's designed as a last-ditch safety measure that can fly the airplane from cruise altitude, locate a suitable airport/runway, land the aircraft, apply brakes, and stop the engines. It can even turn on anti/de-icing systems if needed.

According to AIN, the system, "Activated by the press of a button or automatically when certain conditions are met, such as an unresponsive pilot or prolonged activation of the Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP) system, Autoland chooses the optimal runway, taking into consideration weather, fuel, runway surface and length, terrain, and obstacles. The Autoland button in the King Air is mounted in the back of the center pedestal.

"During an Autoland approach, the system transmits advisory messages on ATC and local airport frequencies to warn controllers and pilots of the emergency. It also provides messages on cockpit displays to keep passengers apprised of the progress of the approach and landing and provides instructions on how to communicate with ATC. If the pilot recovers and is able to fly, switching off Autoland can be done by pressing the autopilot key on the mode controller or the autopilot disconnect button on the yokes.

"The G1000 NXi upgrade includes autopilot features such as ESP with one-engine inoperative assistance to help pilots maintain control if one engine fails. This prevents excessive pitch or bank angles so the pilot can focus on handling the emergency. The autopilot also includes emergency descent mode, which flies the airplane to a lower altitude automatically in case of loss of pressurization." With single-pilot operations, this can give peace of mind to the passengers in the back should something happen to the pilot.

Pilots may worry that automation will replace them, but not to worry; being a pilot requires variable decision-making, adaptability, and judgement in complex situations that automated systems cannot yet handle; so for now, enjoy that automation makes flying safer and remember—being able to turn off the automation is still the best feature.

References:

https://simpleflying.com/how-do-autoland-systems-work/

https://brsaerospace.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/First_Responders.pdf