---
title: "Watch This Tiny Plane Nail a Fully Autonomous Landing"
description: "German researchers have created a new sytem that enables a fully autonomous landing on any airplane runway, not just ones at larger airports."
date: "2019-07-09"
modified: "2019-07-09"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-tiny-plane-fully-autonomous-landing"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
tags:
  - "airplane"
  - "autonomous vehicle"
  - "flying taxi"
  - "the digest"
---

# Watch This Tiny Plane Nail a Fully Autonomous Landing

![German researchers have created a new sytem that enables a fully autonomous landing on any airplane runway, not just ones at larger airports.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/watch-tiny-plane-fully-autonomous-landing.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: TUMuenchen\</em\>*

## Wheels Down

Commercial aircraft have been making autonomous landings for decades, but they're typically only able to do so thanks to instrument landing systems (ILS), which use a combination of radio signals from ground-based antennae and autopilot tech built into the plane to guide it to a safe landing.

ILS systems are generally confined to larger airports. That means aircraft often can't fly at smaller airfields if visibility is too low for a human pilot to see what they're doing. It also means we're going to need to come up with a better system if we want autonomous [flying taxis](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/uber-air-flying-taxi-interior>) to be able to land wherever passengers want.

Now, a team of German researchers has developed a landing system that lets an [aircraft land autonomously](<https://www.sciencealert.com/german-scientists-pull-off-truly-autonomous-aircraft-landing-in-stunning-video>) on virtually any runway — and they demonstrate their remarkable tech in a nerve-wracking new video.

https://youtu.be/tPFC7Ki2JT0

## Nailed It

The researchers' C2Land system includes two cameras: one for visible light and one for infrared light for conditions with low visibility. These cameras work with image-processing software to determine the aircraft's position in relation to the runway.

In May, the team tested C2Land using a modified Diamond DA42 airplane equipped with an advanced autopilot system, and thankfully for test pilot Thomas Wimmer, it worked just as they hoped.

"The cameras already recognize the runway at a great distance from the airport," Wimmer said in a [press release](<https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/details/35556/>). "The system then guides the aircraft through the landing approach on a completely automatic basis and lands it precisely on the runway's centerline."

**READ MORE:** [German Scientists Pull Off Truly Autonomous Aircraft Landing in Stunning Video](<https://www.sciencealert.com/german-scientists-pull-off-truly-autonomous-aircraft-landing-in-stunning-video>) \[*Science Alert*\]

**More on flying taxis:** *[Uber Air Offers First Look Inside Its Flying Taxi](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/uber-air-flying-taxi-interior>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)