The airport fire department published this picture of the plane that landed: Two people got out uninjured.Image: North Metro Fire Rescue
Sudden loss of pressure on board a small propeller plane in the USA: an emergency landing system takes over.
December 24, 2025, 12:33 p.mDecember 24, 2025, 12:33 p.m
Dorothea Meadows / t-online
For the first time in the history of aviation, an aircraft landed completely automatically after an onboard incident. Two people remained uninjured after the “Beechcraft Super King Air 200” came to a standstill on the runway at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver (US state of Colorado). This emerges from a video published by emergency services.
The twin-engine turboprop aircraft landed under the control of the manufacturer Garmin’s Autoland system. “This was the first use of Autoland from start to finish in a real emergency,” Garmin said. According to the company, the system is installed in around 1,700 aircraft.
Sudden loss of pressure on board
What exactly happened? The aircraft suffered a sudden, unintentional loss of pressure in the cabin on its flight from Aspen, said the boss of the charter company Buffalo River Aviation, Chris Townsley, in a press release. The pilots then put on their oxygen masks. Meanwhile, Autoland “turned on automatically exactly as intended,” said Townsley.
The Autoland system took complete control of the aircraft. It analyzed the weather, fuel and terrain, independently selected a suitable airport and initiated the approach. The pilots consciously decided to leave the system activated.
The air traffic controllers in the tower at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport were surprised. Suddenly a cool computer voice sounded: “N479BR, pilot incapacitation. Two miles south of KBJC. Emergency autolanding – 19 minutes to runway 30R.” Translated this means: “N479BR, pilot failure. Two miles south of KBJC. Emergency landing – 19 minutes from runway 30R».
KBJC is the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport code. N479BR is the license plate of a Beechcraft King Air 200, aviation experts explain to the news site “Aerotelegraph”.
The US aviation authority FAA is investigating the incident, writes the US broadcaster CNN on his website.