Okay, I have a little bit of a twist on a common hypothetical asked in the aviation world: Let's say both the captain and copilot on an airliner are somehow incapacitated. The only other pilot on board is a passenger who is a Private Pilot. Now I know that most modern airliners have an autoland feature but I really know nothing about it as far as how it is engaged.

The question is, would ATC try to talk the private pilot down and have him/her manually land the aircraft, or would they have the private pilot engage the autoland feature?

Again, I know nothing about autoland in terms of it being difficult or really easy to use...

 

Perhaps this will help?Airplane! (1980) - Memorable quotes

 

First Link

Another Link

 

If both of the pilots of an airliner cant fly it, even if the whole airplane is full of private pilots, the flight is doomed. The good news is, they will probably be able to talk on the radio all the way to the crash site!

 

Not all airplanes have autoland. I'm not sure what would be more difficult...teaching an PPL to land via radio, or teaching him to use the AFCS/Autoland.

It would probably be safer to just vector the plane to the widest, longest strip within range, and then let the guy land and pray.

In fact, I'm not sure a PPL could even figure out how to use the radio on some airliners.

If I were minus the other pilot, I would probably use a flight attendant before I asked for PPL's. I can't think of any reason that I couldn't fly the airplane solo.

 

Oh, it's really easy. Anyone can do it. Or have the Flight Attendant do it. As you know if she had undergone a couple more weeks of training she could have been a pilot....
(Ducking and running for cover)

 

There are some very skilled private pilots. I would not underestimate everyone with a private pilots licience.

 

The cockpit door is locked. I don't even know where a supposed "key" might be. I am pretty sure the only way to get in is if the flight deck door is locked on the ground by accident and mx comes out.

Otherwise, you're pretty screwed.

 

Airliners are very different from GA aircraft. The autoland on a 737 is very different than a 757, and is very different from a 777 autoland. It's not obvious how to do either unless you have flown them. The 737 has two autopilots, and the second one has to be selected at a certain time to do an autoland. The 757 has three autopilots and three buttons to choose from. The 777 has three autopilots, but only one button on each side to engage the autopilots and autoland. It's not as simple as you might think. I've done autolands in all the above and they are not the same. It's easy for me only because I'm trained in them.

If you're lucky enough to get those engaged, what are your speeds for landing? Can you find it in the CDU/FMC? When do you configure flaps and gear? Are the autothrottles, autobrakes and autospoilers armed? You can't tune the ILS in the 777 on a traditional radio tuning panel. It's done automatically in the FMC by selecting the arrival, transition, and runway/approach.

I don't think we should talk about the problem getting into the cockpit on these boards, but that's another problem.

Maybe someone could talk you through it.?

 

No autoland on the CRJ..... sorry. IF you could get the flight deck door open, better hope there is a deadheading crew member on board or a furloughed brother riding along. A PPL with MS flight sim experience doing the actual checklists and FMS stuff could probably get it down, but it is always going to require some hand flying. And ATC doesnt know anything about the aircraft, another pilot in air might be able to help you out over the freq.... but I'm not sure if ATC/govt has any procedures in place for this or not.