Honda Aircraft has successfully completed FAA certification flight testing for its Emergency Autoland (EAL) system on the HondaJet Elite II under Type Inspection Authorisation (TIA). The HondaJet Elite II is anticipated to become the first twin turbine very light business jet equipped with Emergency Autoland.

The FAA’s TIA signifies that the aircraft and its systems meet all design and safety requirements and are ready for final evaluation by FAA test pilots. The successful completion of these flight tests paves the way for full certification and future deployment of the system.

In the event of an in-flight incident wherein the pilot becomes incapacitated and is no longer able to safely land the aircraft, Emergency Autoland will have the ability to transmit a distress signal to air traffic control and then use automated controls to navigate the aircraft to land at an airport.

“Emergency Autoland was one of the first programmes we announced when I assumed leadership of Honda Aircraft Company, and I’m incredibly proud of our engineers for their commitment to realise this capability for our customers,” says president and CEO Hideto Yamasaki. “We sincerely appreciate the patience of our customers and are very excited to be so close to certification for our HondaJet Elite II aircraft.”

Emergency Autoland will be a significant new feature of the HondaJet Elite II, the current production model of Honda’s very light business jet. The successful certification of autothrottle for the HondaJet Elite II in October 2024 paved the way toward this latest achievement.