For first time in aviation history, plane safely lands itself after emergency situation in Colorado
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (KRDO) – For the first time in general aviation history, a small plane landed itself safely at a Colorado airport after activating Garmin's Autoland system during an emergency situation over the weekend.
The emergency landing happened Saturday afternoon at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, just outside Denver.
According to ABC News, the plane had taken off from Aspen with two pilots onboard, but an emergency alert was triggered not long after takeoff after the pilots reported "a rapid, uncommanded loss of pressurization," the plane's owner, Buffalo River Aviation, said in a statement.
The company said the pilots lost communication with air traffic control, but luckily, the Autoland system automatically engaged "exactly as designed" when the cabin altitude exceeded safe levels.
The Autoland program, created by Garmin, is trained to find the nearest, most optimal airport and land a plane during an emergency, all while communicating with nearby air traffic controllers and making sure airspace and runways are cleared.
According to ABC News, the pilots stayed on standby in case the system malfunctioned, but the technology worked as designed, communicating with air traffic control before safely landing the plane at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
North Metro Fire Rescue crews were on standby as the plane arrived, but said in a social media post that neither pilot on board was injured or needed to be taken to the hospital after landing.
The situation marked the first-ever time the Autoland system was used "from start-to-finish in an actual emergency," Garmin tells ABC News.
The FAA is now investigating the emergency landing.
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