Pilatus PC-12 PRO Safety Autoland System Receives FAA and EASA Certification

Pilatus announced that its PC-12 PRO Safety Autoland system has received certification from both the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, clearing the emergency autonomous landing function for operational use. The approval followed final certification flights that demonstrated automated operation from system activation through landing, air traffic control communications and engine shutdown.

Safety Autoland is integrated into the PC-12 PRO's Garmin G3000 PRIME flight deck and is designed primarily for pilot-incapacitation emergencies. It can activate automatically if pilot inactivity is detected, or manually when an occupant presses a dedicated emergency button. Once activated, the system analyzes weather, aircraft status and navigation data before selecting a suitable airport and calculating a route. During the approach and landing, Autoland accounts for weather, terrain and available fuel while managing the aircraft through touchdown, and it can communicate with air traffic control, provide status updates, alert emergency services and shut down the engine after bringing the aircraft to a stop.

The PC-12 PRO received its initial FAA and EASA type approvals in 2025 and began deliveries later that year, including its first U.S. delivery in November. Aircraft delivered before the Safety Autoland certification incorporated the system hardware, but the function was still awaiting its separate approval. Garmin had indicated when the PC-12 PRO was introduced that Autoland certification was expected in 2026. Garmin Vice President of Aviation Sales, Marketing, Programs and Support Carl Wolf said when the avionics suite was announced, "We are honored to be able to bring this extraordinary flight deck to the popular PC-12 aircraft. G3000 PRIME will significantly modernize the cockpit experience in the PC-12 PRO, and we are confident Pilatus customers will enjoy the state-of-the-art system with all of the safety tool features it includes."

Emergency autoland functions have moved from a single-model novelty toward a standard feature expected across new single-pilot turboprops and light jets, and this certification extends that trend to the PC-12 PRO. Splitting hardware installation from software certification lets manufacturers deliver aircraft on schedule while the emergency-landing function completes its own regulatory review, a sequencing already seen elsewhere in the segment.

Because the hardware was already installed in aircraft delivered before this approval, operators of those earlier PC-12 PRO units should expect the capability to activate through a software or documentation update rather than a physical retrofit. The next point of interest is whether Garmin and Pilatus confirm the same activation path for those in-service aircraft, and whether both agencies' sign-off changes how insurers or operators value pilot-incapacitation coverage on single-pilot turboprop missions.