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The Garmin Autoland system was used for the first time on a King Air 200 in Colorado on Saturday.
The aircraft (N479BR) was able to land at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC) after being activated at around 2 p.m., according to CBS News. It had departed from the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (ASE) at 1:43 p.m. The first mention was from the ATC tower informing another aircraft that there was an emergency and that the airspace needed to be cleared, according to AOPA. Both the North Metro Fire Department and the Westminster Fire Department responded to the emergency.The airport told GlobalAir.com that it is unclear at this time why the emergency system was activated. The system did alert the tower that the pilot had been incapacitated, but there has been no confirmation whether this is true or not. The aircraft landed with no issue and no one was treated on the scene or taken to the hospital.Garmin's Autoland technology for general aviation aircraft was introduced in 2019. In the event that the crew are unable to fly the aircraft, the autoland feature should be able to control and land it on its own, which is particularly important for operations with only a single pilot. Once activated, the system should take a flight path to the nearest airport, initiate an approach to the runway and automatically land the aircraft. The system will communicate with ATC during the event while also providing information to passengers so they know what is happening.RELATED STORIES:Garmin Autoland and Autothrottle certified for King Air 350 retrofit installationGarmin International announces G5000 PRIME integrated flight deckCirrus adds emergency autoland to SR Series G7+
The King Air took off on Sunday for the FAA certification technical center in Oklahoma City, according to AvBrief.