Autoland Saves King Air, Everyone Reported Safe (Updated) - First ever automatic landing in real pilot incapacitated emergency

https://avbrief.com/autoland-saves-king-air-everyone-reported-safe/ (https://ghostarchive.org/archive/qrYWu)

Garmin has confirmed the first emergency use of its Autoland system occurred on Saturday in Colorado. “Garmin can confirm that an emergency Autoland activation occurred at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, Colorado,” the company said in a statement Sunday. “The Autoland took place on Sat., Dec. 20, resulting in a successful landing. We look forward to sharing additional details at the appropriate time.” Garmin also confirmed that it was the first use of the system that was not a test or a demonstration.

Social media posts from flight tracking hobbyists reported a King Air 200 squawked 7700 about 2 p.m. local time today. The Autoland system was initiated and landed the aircraft at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver. A recording from LiveATC’s feed of the airport’s tower frequency includes a robotic female voice declaring a pilot incapacitation and the intention to land on Runway 30. The tape is below and first mention of the incident by ATC is at about 5:00. The Autoland system announces its intentions at about 11:10. (The time stamps are approximate.) There is no word on the condition of the pilot but social media posts suggest all aboard were safe.

The aircraft, N479BR, was being operated by Buffalo River Outfitters from Aspen to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan. It’s not clear how many people were on board. The system appeared to work flawlessly, and the controller at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan seemed to take it in stride, accommodating as many requests as he could before shutting down the airport for the landing. We’ll have more detail on this as it becomes available. There were some social media posts questioning whether there was an actual emergency. Garmin did not respond to our questions regarding those posts. The aircraft operator did not respond to our email and phone requests for comment.

Larry Anglisano recorded this video demonstration of the Autoland system in the Beechcraft King Air.

A reader was at the airport Saturday and shared this video that he had posted to Instagram.

ATC audio with visuals:

 

[Preacher ✝]

The crew did not pass out, they lost pressurization and activated autoland while putting on their masks and decided to let autoland continue till landing.

Suspicious. They chose to let the system do the work, a puff piece article was written, and now when the truth comes out fewer people are likely to notice/care.

 

[BelUwUga]

Suspicious. They chose to let the system do the work, a puff piece article was written, and now when the truth comes out fewer people are likely to notice/care.

I've seen conflicting reports saying the crew did not know how to deactivate the system. I'm not sure I believe they just decided to leave it on and might just want to cover their asses with investigators.

 

[Google.com]

Suspicious. They chose to let the system do the work, a puff piece article was written, and now when the truth comes out fewer people are likely to notice/care.

I hate to agree because I think the system is great technology but I have concerns as well.

• Why did the pilots stop communicating after a few transmissions.
• The autoland system is supposed to rapidly descend to a safe altitude in the event of a cabin pressure loss activation according to previous videos then wait to see if the pilot responds before landing. Why did it behave as if there was no cabin pressure issue. Is this a design flaw caused by the pilots manually activating it and overriding the cabin emergency behavior?

 

[Preacher ✝]

I hate to agree because I think the system is great technology but I have concerns as well.

It is great technology, and it's not been my intention to say otherwise. If they had trouble turning it off then it either needs more work or to be accompanied by better training, but really though it should be idiot proof. Imagine if the pilot is actually incapacitated and then for whatever reason the system isn't working correctly. Then a passenger should be able to disable it and attempt landing with instruction from the tower as a last resort.

Regardless, the article raised my suspicions from the start. It felt like too perfect a scenario for showing off the system.

Why did the pilots stop communicating after a few transmissions.

Why did it behave as if there was no cabin pressure issue. Is this a design flaw caused by the pilots manually activating it and overriding the cabin emergency behavior?

Maybe there was no cabin pressure issue at all, and it was a completely fraudulent emergency. In that case everything is explained.

The pilots stopped communicating to maintain the ruse, the plane behaved as if there was no cabin pressure issue because there wasn't one.

If I were investigating this I would subpoena the financial records of the crew, the company management responsible for them, Garmin, and the journalist who wrote the article.

 

[Zoobles]

would communication from a Beechcraft pilot be intelligible with an oxygen mask on?