Garmin’s Autoland emergency-landing system is now installed in more than 2,500 aircraft worldwide, extending from piston aircraft and single-engine turboprops to business jets. The milestone comes just over six years after the system was first certified on the Piper M600 SLS and follows its expansion to more than 15 certified aircraft models.
Four aircraft gained Autoland certification in 2026: the HondaJet Elite II, Embraer Phenom 300EV, Pilatus PC-12 PRO and Epic E1000 AX. The HondaJet and Phenom 300EV approvals brought the system to twin-engine jets for the first time, broadening its availability in business aviation.
Nearly 250 of the equipped aircraft received Autoland as a retrofit after delivery. The retrofit programme includes eligible Beechcraft King Air aircraft, extending the capability to a platform with a production history spanning more than five decades. Autoland is integrated with Garmin’s G1000 NXi, G3000 and G3000 PRIME flight decks, although avionics installation does not by itself confirm certification for a specific aircraft.
In an emergency such as pilot incapacitation, a passenger can activate the system with a dedicated button. On applicable installations, it can also activate automatically when pilot interaction is absent. Autoland then selects a suitable airport, calculates a route considering terrain, weather, runway length, fuel and distance, and completes the approach, landing and braking without human intervention. Further certifications are expected in 2027 for the Cessna Citation M2 Gen3, CJ3 Gen3, CJ4 Gen3 and Beechcraft Denali.