Can Autopilot Land a Plane?
The short answer? Yes, but it’s not as simple as pressing a button and watching the plane do its thing. Thanks to the “Autoland” system, modern jetliners are capable of landing themselves. However, automatic landings account for less than 1% of all landings. In fact, many pilots will tell you that it’s easier to land the aircraft manually.
This is because when the autoland mode is engaged, pilots have to be extremely vigilant and monitor everything to a tee. The inputs they give also have to be more precise in this case. While a plane can land itself, it cannot apply thrust reversers or taxi off the runway so, in theory, we still need pilots.