Al-Amn Magazine

AVIATION I s this the future of flying? An FAA- certified airplane that can land on its own While passenger anxieties may be experiencing an uptick, one new design aboard a small aircraft is attempting to change the future of flying when it comes to safety. And it comes with just the push of one button. Aircraft manufacturer Cirrus is launching the first Federal Aviation Administration-approved autonomous safety system in a single-engine piston airplane. It’s called “Safe Return,” and it is a shiny red button in the plane maker’s SR Series G7+. Cirrus first certified Safe Return in its larger and more expensive Vision Jet in August 2020. CNN got a first-hand look at the Cirrus technology and how the planes are able to land themselves. How can a plane land on its own? The way it works is simple. Takeoff is the same – passengers feel the roar of the engine as the plane is maneuvered by the pilot to the runway swiftly and cautiously. In the air, it has features just like a regular plane. But, say there was a problem with the pilot. Now, Safe Return can step in. It comes in the form of a red button that sits overhead, closest to the passengers in the back. One press of the button, and the plane will route itself to the closest and most available runway. It entirely takes control of the airplane. “The first thing it does is it makes a decision,” said Ben Kowalski, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Cirrus Aircraft, in an interview with CNN. “There’s an algorithm that decides: ‘Where should we go? What it’s doing is it’s making a choice, almost just like a pilot would.” The Safe Return button, allowing passengers to land the plane quickly in case of an emergency.  Cirrus Aircraft There’s a 10-second grace window, should the emergency button be hit on accident, when the pilot is able to disconnect it. The aircraft’s integrated flight decks have everything it needs to make the landing: it’ll interpret the fuel state, weather, wind and more. Air traffic controllers will also be alerted that the aircraft is having an emergency, and passengers are also able to communicate with controllers, should they need to. Ivy McIver is the executive director of the SR Series product line at Cirrus Aircraft. She also is a pilot and flew the Cirrus plane demonstrated for CNN. “The first time I did (an activation of Safe Return), it was sort of one of those things where on one side it was hard to give up control, but on the other side I felt so confident in the system because I had been part of the certification process and part of the flight testing that it really was just to watch the magic of engineering at work,” McIver said. It all comes together when the plane touches down, right in the center of the runway, and comes to a stop with no one touching the The ‘ red bu t ton ’ bri ngs t he p l ane home Se l f - l and i ng tech wi l l soon be t he norm