New Airplane Feature Could Save You If Your Pilot Can't

Published: Nov. 13, 2019, 7 p.m.

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In 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board told ABC News that 97 percent of the airplane fatalities that occurred didn\\u2019t happen on commercial flights, and that small planes were involved in an average of five accidents per day.

Much of this goes back to a lack of pilot training, the NTSB said at the time.\\xa0

And it appears to be still true today, which is one of the reasons the avionics and navigation company Garmin has been developing a product that can take over in the event of an emergency and actually land an airplane with just the press of a button.

It\\u2019s called Autoland, and it\\u2019s currently being demoed by the private plane company, Cirrus, to be used by anyone \\u2013 even someone who\\u2019s never been on an airplane before \\u2013 to land a plane if the pilot becomes incapacitated. And you\\u2019re going to love this next part \\u2013 it\\u2019s actually exactly what you\\u2019re picturing: a big red button.

Once the button, which resides in the airplane\\u2019s ceiling, is pressed, it activates warnings that tell those nearby to keep their hands off the controllers. The system then tracks down the nearest appropriate airport and contacts the control tower, to whom it issues a message that\\u2019s basically we\\u2019re coming in for a landing; clear the runway.

Since Garmin is already in the map game, the system has cutting edge GPS that IDs everything from unusual terrain to a cell phone tower, and safety navigates around it. The system, reportedly, can even navigate around storms.

Cirrus \\u2013 who is calling this technology in its planes \\u201cSafe Return,\\u201d plans to integrate it as standard equipment in its single engine private jet, Vision. A Florida-based plane company, Piper, will also use it, according to CNN Business, and Garmin hopes the technology will make its way to other airplane companies.

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