Unusual Attitude: Automatic

The one-button system offered first on Piper M600 turboprops and Cirrus SF50 Vision Jets instantly takes over and engages the autopilot, announces an emergency on 121.5 MHz, evaluates nearby weather and terrain, and then flies an approach to the closest suitable runway where it touches down and brakes to a stop.

How long does it take the Garmin G3000-based system to make these complex calculations about how and where to fly? Three nanoseconds—or three billionths of a second. That’s quicker than a pilot can say yes to an ATC offer of a direct routing.

I confess I never thought the FAA would even consider such a radically comprehensive system with so many new capabilities and question marks. But the agency’s commitment to approve Autoland shows a bold willingness to move safety-enhancing technology forward, even when it includes an element of risk. That’s new, and welcome.

Right now, Garmin’s Autoland is limited to emergency use on a couple of new airplanes—but Autoland is sure to migrate quickly up and down the airplane spectrum.

For single-engine piston aircraft, it’s easy to imagine a far simpler “auto-glide” system that doesn’t tie into the aircraft’s propulsion, landing gear, flaps, or braking systems. Garmin, ForeFlight, and other popular aviation apps already offer graphical “glide range” rings on moving maps that constantly calculate based on wind speed and direction, aircraft glide ratio, and terrain height. By linking that information with a modern, always-on autopilot, an auto-glide system could guide stricken airplanes to the nearest suitable runway if one is within glide range.

Autothrottles, once limited to exotic jets, are likely to become widespread among future piston aircraft so that they can get Autoland, too.

Airliners have long had the ability to perform Category III landings in zero-zero weather at a few hundred high-use runways around the country. Now, Autoland makes thousands of runways suitable for automated landings. Just about any runway that has a GPS approach will do.

As Autoland demonstrates in the real world that it enhances safety, automated approaches and landings are sure to move from rare emergencies to standard operating procedures. Airlines, corporate flight departments, and individuals flying their own airplanes will simply select the desired runway, push a button, and monitor their airplanes as they fly themselves to touchdown. Hand-flown approaches and manual landings will be relegated to flight simulators, checkrides, and situations where the technology fails. In other words, hand-flown landings will seem like emergencies and automated landings will be normal.

From there, it’s a small step to airplanes taking off, climbing to altitude, and following preprogrammed routes all by themselves. They could even be rerouted from the ground autonomously.

As the role of pilot changes from active planner and decision-maker to a more passive monitor and evaluator, the idea of single-pilot crews for cargo carriers—and eventually passenger airlines—doesn’t seem farfetched. Pilot error has long been the root cause of about three-quarters of all aviation accidents. What engineer, airline manager, or regulator could oppose technology with the potential to so substantially improve flight safety?

Fifty years ago, airline and military cockpits typically had four crew members: a navigator, flight engineer, co-pilot, and pilot. Technology has long since made navigators extinct, and flight engineers are on the endangered list. Both were replaced with electronic boxes and microchips that perform those roles with incredible speed and accuracy, and they never get tired, cranky, or complain about how much time they spend away from home.

Pilots rightly take pride in developing critical decision-making skills, landing on short runways in crosswinds, and keeping calm under pressure. We have trouble believing that new software could make those complex and hard-won skills obsolete.

But whether we like it or not, it’s happening fast.