Plane makes safe emergency landing in Colorado without a pilot's help, in first "Autoland" use

A plane landed at Colorado's Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport without a pilot's help on Saturday in what appears to be the first real-world use of new safety technology. According to Garmin, their emergency "Autoland" system was activated for the first time ever for the landing at around 2 p.m. The landing was successful and the charter company for the plane told CBS Colorado that everyone involved was okay.

According to LiveATC and a pilot who heard the communication at the time, a robotic voice over air traffic control communication can be heard saying, "Pilot incapacitation, two miles south… emergency Autoland in 19 minutes on runway 3-0."

It came not long after taking off from Aspen's airport and pilots reported a pressurization problem while flying over the Denver metro area.  

"We lost pressurization," the pilot told air traffic control. 

Cases of pilot incapacitation are rare, but nearly always fatal. The Autoland system works with the push of a button and can be activated by anyone on board the aircraft or can self-activate after a prolonged period of no pilot activity. 

In the air traffic control audio, the same robotic voice can also be heard describing the flight's tail number as N479BR. On Flight Aware, this tail number is shown landing at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport on Saturday afternoon, flying in from Aspen.

Local flight instructor Adam Lendi was with a student when he says he heard the traffic over his radio and went out to see the plane land.

"We saw the fire trucks starting to head out," Lendi went on to explain, "I was familiar with the auto land systems, and I recognized that's what was going on. So I told my student, I said, 'We might be witnessing something pretty cool here.'"

In a statement to CBS Colorado, Garmin said: "Garmin can confirm that an emergency Autoland activation occurred at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, Colorado. The Autoland took place on Saturday, Dec. 20, resulting in a successful landing. We look forward to sharing additional details at the appropriate time."

Flight Aware shows the operators of the plane that landed at that time as Buffalo River Aviation, who say everyone involved is okay.

On Monday, the company sent CBS News Colorado a statement, saying no passengers were on board and that the pilots allowed the system to retain control of the plane, "exercising conservative judgement."

"Climbing through 23,000ft MSL, the aircraft experienced a rapid, uncommanded loss of pressurization. As per standard procedures, the two pilots immediately put on their oxygen masks," the company's CEO Chris Townsley. "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 system selected a suitable airport per Garmin criteria (KBJC, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport), navigated to it, and communicated automatically along the way."

Townsley said that reports of the pilots being incapacitated are "incorrect" and were the result of the technology's automated communication and reporting functions.

"In this case, the crew 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 aircraft returned home the following day without incident," Townsley said. "Buffalo River Aviation is grateful to the pilots for their exceptional judgment and execution of protocols, and to the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and Denver Center Tracon personnel for their assistance and support during this event."

Garmin's Autoland technology for a general aviation aircraft came out in 2019, and the company says this is the first time it's ever been activated. 

CBS News cameras were the first to be allowed on board to see the technology in action back in 2019, as it was being approved by the FAA. 

Larry Anglisano, an aviation journalist for AVBrief, described Autoland as a fail-safe for when the airplane is in working order but the pilot might not be able to take control. It can even turn itself on if the pilot fails to interact with the system for a long period of time.

"This is a smart computer that's smart enough to know the pilot is incapacitated and smart enough to know where to put the airplane down for a safe landing based on the amount of runway that's needed; it'll fly around weather," Anglisano said.

And on Saturday, the tech did just that as it brought anyone on board safely to the ground. Lendi says flights were kept out of the airspace for about an hour during this time.

"It's reassuring just to know that, if you know, as I progress in my flying career, that if I were in a situation where something happened to me, there could be an option for everybody in the plane to make it on the ground safely," Lendi said.

The Federal Aviation Administration released this statement to CBS Colorado: "A Beechcraft Super King Air landed safely at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Colorado around 2:20 p.m. local time on Saturday, Dec. 20, after the pilot lost communication with air traffic control. An onboard emergency autoland system was activated. Two people were on board. The FAA is investigating." 

RMMA told CBS Colorado it was aware of the situation and that the plane landed safely without incident.