A twin-engine turboprop aircraft landed itself at a Colorado airport on Saturday after a sudden cabin failure — a first-of-its-kind emergency touchdown carried out entirely by an automated flight system.
The aircraft — a Beechcraft Super King Air 200 — touched down safely at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport outside Denver on Dec. 20 after suffering a rapid loss of cabin pressurization while climbing out of Aspen, according to the operator.
The aircraft was passing through at about 23,000 feet when the pressurization failure triggered a high-altitude emergency that can quickly leave pilots oxygen-starved.
Instead of attempting a manual recovery, the two pilots allowed the aircraft’s automated emergency landing system to take control and fly the plane to the ground.