Pilatus PC-12 PRO Autoland system certified by FAA and EASA

Pilatus has received certification from the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for the Safety Autoland system fitted to its PC-12 PRO, allowing the emergency landing function to be used in service. The approvals came after final certification flights that showed the system handling the full sequence automatically, from activation through touchdown, communications and engine shutdown.

Safety Autoland runs on the PC-12 PRO's Garmin G3000 PRIME flight deck and is aimed mainly at situations where a pilot becomes incapacitated. It can engage on its own if the aircraft detects that the pilot is inactive, or be triggered by an occupant pressing a dedicated emergency button. Once active, the system reviews weather, aircraft status and navigation data, then picks an airport and works out a route to it.

On the way and during the approach, the system takes into account weather, terrain and remaining fuel while controlling the aircraft to landing. It is also able to talk to air traffic control, send status updates and notify emergency services before stopping the aircraft and shutting down the engine.

The PC-12 PRO itself was approved by the FAA and EASA in 2025, with deliveries starting later that year and the first U.S. handover in November. Those aircraft carried the Safety Autoland hardware, but the function needed its own separate certification. Garmin had said at the time the PC-12 PRO was launched that Autoland was expected to be available in 2026.

Garmin's vice president of aviation sales, marketing, programs and support, Carl Wolf, said at the announcement of the avionics suite that the company was honored to bring the flight deck to the PC-12, adding that the G3000 PRIME would modernize the cockpit and that Pilatus customers were expected to value the system and its safety tools.