Mastodawn

Ben Hale Dec 24

Garmin “Autoland” aka “Safe Return,” has been used for the first time, successfully.

Autoland is an emergency system, where a passenger can hit a big red button if the pilot is in incapacitated, which causes the airplane to make emergency radio calls, navigate to a nearby airport with a long runway and medical facilities, and conduct an instrument approach and landing, followed by a full shutdown when the aircraft comes to a stop on the runway. Large screens and voice announcements keep passengers updated along the way.

The nature of the medical emergency on Saturday, involving a King Air with an unconscious pilot, has not been disclosed.

https://avbrief.com/autoland-saves-king-air-everyone-reported-safe/ #avgeek

Autoland Saves King Air, Everyone Reported Safe (Updated) - AvBrief.com

Aircraft landed safely at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver on Saturday afternoon.

AvBrief.com

@NewtonMark I assume when the button is pressed there is also the required notification in the cockpit.

Passwordsarehard4 Dec 22

@MattHatton @NewtonMark I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue

Ian Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 22

@MattHatton @NewtonMark Otto! 👋

FreediverX Dec 24

@MattHatton @NewtonMark
In case of malfunction, find the manual inflation nozzle.

"Musty Bits" McGee Dec 22

@NewtonMark that's fucking wild

@NewtonMark
Listening to the audio ... I am stunned. This is the future we were promised. Hats off to Garmin.

They're going to have to start a "Hands Off Club" for passengers and crew, similar to the Ejection Tie Club of Martin-Baker.

thefathippy Dec 22

Well, that's a bit brilliant! 🤯

@NewtonMark video demonstration of some of the functionality here: https://youtu.be/cTbwSDPDA44?

IIRC the first version was only for single engine aircraft. Now it will also attempt to handle engine failures with asymmetric thrust on multi engine aircraft. Pretty amazing stuff!

King Air Emergency Autoland Demo

YouTube

Hamish M (VK3FSB)Dec 22

@NewtonMark very cool

Tom Bortels Dec 22

See also (unaffiliated) https://reliable.co

There's a ton of insanely cool work being done in this area - that is, autopilot.

Reliable Robotics

Advanced automation will make aircraft safer, more available, more affordable and fundamentally transformative to the way goods and people move around the planet.

@NewtonMark We could actually use a similar system for cars. If an idiot driver is detected, an #AI auto-driver takes over and brings the car to a safe stop. Bonus points for calling emergency services with GPS location and activating the door locks... 😎

This would save over 1500 lives a year in UK alone making the roads significantly safer, especially for #cycling

MidgePhoto Dec 22

@Rastal @NewtonMark
Hackable

φαггoт Dec 22

@NewtonMark ok garmin, video speichern

Shantara Dec 22

@NewtonMark This is incredible! The first piece of positive tech news in a while

Moriel 🏳️‍⚧️Dec 22

THIS! This is what AI is supposed to be doing for us!

Nate Allen Dec 22

@NewtonMark I learned about a similar system from the Mythbusters episode about talking a passenger through landing a plane. The pilot said something like "Well, really what would happen is that someone would press a button and the plane would land itself."

@NewtonMark Would love to hear more details about what exactly happened, sounds amazing!

"We look forward to sharing additional details at the appropriate time", says Garmin. Well, I hope I don't miss that! :)

Michael / Chgowiz 🎲🎲Dec 24

@NewtonMark A followup article quotes a statement that says that the pilots were awake/alert/capable during the emergency but chose to let the autoland do its thing. Interesting.

https://avbrief.com/autoland-crew-consciously-let-system-take-over/

Autoland Crew 'Consciously' Let System Take Over - AvBrief.com

Pilots rode out the autonomous sequence rather than intervene to 'minimize additional variables.'

AvBrief.com

glasspshr Dec 24

@NewtonMark “buttons aren’t toys” #HHGG