Can an aircraft autopilot land the plane?
Yes, but only an aircraft equipped and certified for autoland can perform the approach, flare and touchdown automatically on a suitable runway. The crew must configure and monitor it; an ordinary autopilot flying an ILS approach does not necessarily provide a fully automatic landing.
In real-world aviation, autopilot and autoland are separate capabilities. A conventional autopilot controls the aircraft's flight path, while autoland integrates flight guidance, radio altimeters, approach receivers, thrust control and other systems. Our guide to how aircraft autopilot modes control the flight path explains the underlying system.
What is the difference between an ILS approach and autoland?
An autopilot can fly an ILS approach without being able to flare or touch down. The approach mode follows the localiser and glideslope, but many aircraft require the pilot to disconnect the autopilot and land manually.
| Capability | What it does | Automatic landing? |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary autopilot | Maintains modes such as heading, altitude and vertical speed | No |
| Coupled ILS approach | Tracks the localiser and glideslope towards the runway | Not unless certified autoland modes are available |
| Autoland | Controls the approach, flare and touchdown, with rollout guidance where fitted | Yes, within its certified limits |
Automatic landing is therefore a function of the aircraft's complete automatic flight-control system, not simply the result of leaving the autopilot engaged.
What must be available for an autoland?
Autoland is available only when the aircraft, approach, operator, crew and conditions all meet the applicable approval.
- A capable aircraft: It needs a certified automatic landing system with the required sensors and serviceable redundancy. Depending on the design, two or three autopilot channels may be engaged.
- A suitable approach: Autoland normally uses an ILS. For low-visibility operations, the runway installation and protected ILS areas must support the authorised CAT II or CAT III operation.
- Operational approval: The operator and pilots must be authorised for the procedure. An aircraft having the necessary equipment does not by itself make every flight eligible.
- Acceptable conditions: Wind, visibility, runway condition, equipment status and other factors must remain within the aircraft and operator limits.
- Correct configuration: The approach source, landing data, flight-guidance modes, autopilot channels and aircraft configuration must all be set and verified.
CAT II or CAT III is not simply an autoland setting. These categories define approach minima and approval requirements. A system may also be described as fail-passive, meaning a failure leaves the aircraft stable for pilot intervention, or fail-operational, meaning it can retain automatic landing capability after a specified failure.
What does the flight crew still do?
The pilots remain responsible for setting up, checking and monitoring an automatic landing from approach clearance through rollout.
- Confirm capability: Check the aircraft's landing status, equipment serviceability, runway approach, weather and applicable minima.
- Set up the approach: Verify the ILS or other approved guidance source, configure the aircraft and establish a stabilised intercept.
- Engage the required modes: Arm approach mode and engage the necessary autopilot channels according to the aircraft procedure.
- Read the annunciations: Confirm localiser and glideslope capture, followed by the expected landing, flare and rollout indications. The flight-mode annunciator is more authoritative than an illuminated approach button.
- Monitor and intervene: Go around if the approach becomes unstable, the system loses the required capability or the landing requirements are not met at the applicable decision point.
- Take over after landing: Apply reverse thrust where required and assume manual control when the procedure calls for it.
Exact channel engagement, call-outs and disconnect points vary by aircraft and operator. The approved aircraft manuals and standard operating procedures take precedence over any generic sequence.
Does autoland control braking and steering?
Some autoland systems track the runway centreline during rollout, but they do not necessarily control every action after touchdown. Automatic spoilers and autobrakes are separate systems, while reverse thrust is commonly selected by the pilots.
Rollout guidance may use rudder or steering inputs until the crew takes control. Conventional airliner autoland does not taxi the aircraft to the stand.
Why does the autopilot not land in a flight simulator?
In a flight simulator, selecting APP usually arms approach guidance; it does not guarantee an automatic flare and touchdown. A mistake we see constantly is treating the approach button as an autoland switch.
- The simulated aircraft may model ILS capture but not autoland.
- The wrong navigation source, ILS frequency or inbound course may be selected where manual entry is required.
- The aircraft may intercept too high, too close or from an unsuitable angle.
- Only one autopilot channel may be engaged when the aircraft requires additional channels.
- The flight-mode annunciator may show armed modes rather than actual localiser and glideslope capture.
- Runway scenery and navigation data may disagree, producing an offset or unreliable approach.
If the problem is capturing the beam rather than completing an autoland, follow our MSFS 2024 ILS interception and capture procedure. Airbus users should also check the A320 autopilot and dual-channel setup in MSFS, because its landing logic depends on the correct mode sequence and annunciations.
Do airline pilots use autoland on every flight?
No. Pilots normally land manually when conditions, procedures and workload permit, while autoland is reserved for qualifying low-visibility operations or used periodically for training and system checks.
An autoland is not guaranteed to feel smoother than a manual landing. When low-visibility procedures are not active, the ILS critical area may receive less protection from aircraft or vehicles, so crews must remain alert for guidance disturbances even in clear weather.
Is emergency autoland the same system?
No. Emergency autoland fitted to some modern light aircraft is a separate, highly integrated system intended for use when the pilot cannot continue. Depending on the installation, it can select an airport, communicate the emergency, fly an approach, land, brake and stop the aircraft.
That capability requires purpose-built, certified hardware and software. It cannot be added merely by upgrading an ordinary autopilot or selecting approach mode.