Hanneke Weitering is a writer and editor with AIN covering advanced air mobility and new flight technologies. She became an aviation journalist and joined the AIN team in the summer of 2022 after reporting on spaceflight and astronomy for six years at Space.com. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she moved to New York City to pursue a master’s degree in science, health, and environmental reporting at New York University&#039;s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. After spending several years in the Pacific Northwest, she has returned to the Knoxville area.

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Hanneke Weitering

More than 2,500 aircraft now carry Garmin’s Autoland emergency landing system, the company announced on October 14, about six years after it first won approval.
Intended for emergencies in which the pilot becomes incapacitated, Autoland engages when someone on board presses a dedicated button or when the pilot becomes unresponsive. It then chooses an airport where it can land safely, alerts air traffic control, and lands the airplane without human input.
The FAA first certified Autoland on the Piper M600 SLS single-engine turboprop in May 2020, and the system has since spread to more than 15 models, from Cirrus SR20 and SR22 single-engine piston airplanes to twin turboprops and twinjets.
Nearly 250 of today’s Autoland-equipped aircraft received the system after delivery. Some left the factory with compatible Garmin flight decks but without Autoland enabled and had it switched on later, according to Garmin. Others are King Air 200- and 300-series twin turboprops, some of them decades old, that owners retrofitted with Garmin’s G1000 NXi flight deck.
This year marked Autoland’s move into twinjets. The FAA approved the system on the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-02-04/hondajet-elite-ii-receives-faa-nod-autoland">HondaJet Elite II</a> in February, making it the first twinjet with Autoland. In August, the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-08-25/garmin-autoland-approved-embraers-phenom-300ev">Embraer Phenom 300EV</a> earned U.S., European, and Brazilian certification. Embraer says the light jet is the largest business aircraft equipped with Autoland, though deliveries won’t begin until 2028.
U.S. and European regulators last month approved Autoland on the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-09-24/garmin-autoland-approved-use-pilatus-pc-12-pro">Pilatus PC-12 Pro</a>, a single-engine turboprop that carries the system as standard equipment. The FAA recently approved the system on the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-10-01/faa-certifies-garmin-autoland-epic-e1000-ax">Epic E1000 AX</a>, another single-engine turboprop, which has Autoland buttons in several spots around the cabin.
Next year, the Olathe, Kansas-based avionics maker expects Autoland certification for Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation M2 Gen3, CJ3 Gen3, and CJ4 Gen3 light jets, as well as the Beechcraft Denali single-engine turboprop.
Autoland <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2025-12-23/king-air-b200-lands-after-garmin-autoland-activation">landed an airplane in a real emergency</a> for the first time in December 2025. A King Air B200 flying without passengers from Aspen, Colorado, suffered a rapid loss of cabin pressurization. The system engaged automatically and landed the twin turboprop at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (KBJC) near Denver. Neither of the two pilots on board was incapacitated, but they chose to let Autoland complete the flight because of poor visibility, icing, and mountainous terrain, according to operator Buffalo River Aviation.

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More than 2,500 aircraft now carry Garmin’s Autoland emergency landing system, about six years after it first won FAA approval.

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