Garmin Autoland/Autothrottle: Enhancing Safety While Reducing Workload

Company now offers this functionality for the iconic King Air if you happen to own one that meets specific parameters.

Richard Scarbrough

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 08:31 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

A King Air 200 graces an airport runway at sunset. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Legacy aircraft, like the King Air, can be significantly upgraded with modern avionics and safety features via Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs), offering a cost-effective alternative to purchasing new aircraft.
Garmin's Autothrottle and Autoland systems provide critical enhancements, with Autothrottle reducing pilot workload and enhancing safety through automated power management, and Autoland offering an emergency self-landing solution for pilot incapacitation.
These advanced upgrades, particularly for specific King Air models, require an existing or upgraded Garmin G1000 NXi Flight Deck and involve a detailed installation, rigorous testing, and comprehensive documentation process to ensure airworthiness.

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As new technology emerges that increases the capability and safety of new aircraft, the same or similar functionality finds its way into the legacy fleet via the supplemental type certificate (STC) process.

Upgrading aircraft, especially avionics and automation, enables owners to reinvest in an aircraft that may already be fully depreciated rather than purchasing new or late-model aircraft for significantly more money—if you can afford the downtime.