[dangwu]

Hasn't autopilot had "auto-land" technology for many years now? How is Garmin's different?

[jaywalk]

Garmin's is literally "oh shit the pilot passed out!" and an entirely inexperienced passenger can push a single button, ending up with the plane stopped on the nearest appropriate runway with the engine off. The autoland system in airliners requires a lot of setup by the pilots and continuous monitoring all the way down, plus working ILS (instrument landing system) equipment at the airport.

[nopcode]

When flying private, my pilot told me: “just press this button when I have a stroke or something”.

Almost 20 years ago.

Ignorance is bliss I guess.

[arianvanp]

Not really. You need to intercept an ILS beacon and not all airfields have them and you still need to find the intercept.

Garmin allows true auto landing without ground equipment

[scottyah]

US military drones have been doing it for decades now.

[wolverine876]

How successfully? An bad landing for a drone is much less costly than for a plane with people in it.