Pilot of King Air departing Denver becomes incapacitated. Garmin G3000 auto lands the plan

DEI hire

Default
Electronic
Incoming

They didn't even have to send a hero out on the wing with a roll of duct tape to fix anything.

That’s pretty wild

quote:

---

Payne Stewart is turning in his grave.

---

I believe they died of hypoxia up at cruise altitude, not sure if the autoland feature would have saved them if the plane landed safely.

Automatic Detection and Activation

The system infers possible incapacitation through layered safety features and lack of response:
• Hypoxia Recognition / Emergency Descent Mode (EDM): Armed when the autopilot is engaged above ~14,900–20,000 feet (varies by aircraft). It monitors for signs of hypoxia, such as lack of pilot inputs/interactions or high cabin altitude (>12,500 feet in some configurations). If triggered, it automatically descends the aircraft to a safer altitude. If the pilot does not intervene or respond to prompts during/after the descent (e.g., descending below a threshold like 14,100–15,000 feet without deactivation), Autoland activates automatically, assuming incapacitation.

quote:

---

I believe they died of hypoxia up at cruise altitude, not sure if the autoland feature would have saved them if the plane landed safely.

---

Not the auto-land, but shortly after Stewart died they were fitting planes with avionics that detected loss of pressure and descended the plane to about 8,000 feet quickly so that the people would eventually wake back up.

My plane wasn’t pressurized (2018 model) but when I was at a high altitude I was prompted every now and then to see if I was alert (that is if I hadn’t touched the controls). If I didn’t respond to the prompt the avionics would take over and descend as long as there was no terrain in the way.

quote:

---

I’m not sure what happened with Biffle’s plane, but it seems like some mechanical failure that didn’t allow them to get back to the field.I doubt an automatic landing system would have made a difference. It could help fly the plane to the crash site without stalling, but maybe the pilots did that anyway

---

Preliminary data says the auto pilot was never engaged.

quote:

---

That's incredible. I wonder how many of these systems are currently out there?

---

They are available in the new Cirrus models. The autonomous emergency landing systems were already in their jets.

Cirrus calls theirs the Safe Return™.

New Cessna, Cirrus, Honda, and Embraer jets all have an autonomous emergency landing systems.

That is one reason Cirrus ate Beechcraft's lunch. Cirrus is expected to sell 700 units in the upcoming year. Those are incredible sales numbers in the aircraft world.

The first Bonanaza was introduced 78 years ago in 1947. The current Bonanza 36 models came along in 1968. The Baron was started in 1961. The current Baron 58 models started in 1969 as a 1970 model.

Textron, who owns Cessna and Beechcraft, just killed them both. They are no longer even listed on the website. Cirrus literally killed them. Beechcraft simply didn't keep up with the technology. They still charged $1.5 million for a new Bo, and almost $2 million for a new Baron.

When the pilot is incapacitated the passengers can save themselves. It's as simple as pushing a button.

RIP Richie Valens

quote:

---

That is one reason Cirrus ate Beechcraft's lunch. Cirrus is expected to sell 700 units in the upcoming year. Those are incredible sales numbers in the aircraft world

---

Warrants more than just an up vote.
I was prepared to post essentially the same.