The FAA says it is investigating the activation of the Garmin Autoland system on a King Air 200 in Colorado on Saturday. It issued the following statement. “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.”
The agency declined to elaborate on the nature of its investigation, but CBS News reported a pressurization issue was involved in the Autoland activation. The Fox News affiliate in Denver reported that the local fire department was puzzled by the emergency response to the airport since neither of the men on the plane required treatment or transport to a hospital. In the event of a depressurization, the Garmin system immediately begins an emergency descent to 15,000 feet and if the pilots do not intervene the Autoland sequence begins automatically.
The NTSB is also looking into it and it, too, is not providing any detail. “We are aware of the event and currently collecting information to determine if it meets the criteria for an investigation,” the NTSB said in a statement.
Garmin earlier confirmed it was the first non-test use of its Autoland system. “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 aircraft landed successfully and there have been no reports of injuries. The nature of the incapacitation and the condition of the pilot have not been released. VASAviation put together this nice animation of the event below.
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. The aircraft took off first thing on Sunday morning for Oklahoma City, which is a major certification technical center for the FAA.
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.
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AvBrief.com. He has been a pilot for 30 years and an aviation journalist since 2003. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.