With a tight grip on the controls and a touch of technology, today’s pilots can land aircraft in all but the worst of conditions – even if they cannot see the runway.
Watch the videos below to see how a modern aircraft flies itself through dense fog, blizzards and beating rain, all the way to the runway centreline.
While the videos may appear frightening at first, it’s worth knowing that these landings are commonplace – if not routine – in modern air travel.
An Instrument Landing System (ILS) is a standard feature of most modern airports, combining radio signals with high intensity lighting to allow aircraft to approach the runway with no visibility at all.
Radio signals sent by the ILS allow the pilots to visualise their position relative to the runway using instrumentation, all without actually being able to see the runway in front of them.
While the pilots can generally then follow the instrumentation to a safe landing, the autopilot can also be used to automatically fly the aircraft down to the runway.
Despite all this technology, sometimes a successful landing still comes down to sheer human will, even in the modern era of aviation.
Until 1998, a particularly tricky approach and landing into Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport was in the hands of skilled pilots. Due to mountainous terrain and buildings, pilots would approach the airport from an angle, turning at the very last minute to make a landing, even in poor weather.
Such a manoeuvre was beyond the capabilities of the autopilot and ILS at the time.
Modern aircraft also utilise other navigational aids, such as GPS, to increase the navigational capabilities of the autopilot.
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