Cirrus Aircraft has introduced Safe Return, a self-landing system that takes control and lands the plane if the pilot becomes incapacitated. CNET got an early hands-on look.
Watch this: Aviation Breakthrough: A Consumer Plane That Lands Itself
The system, which is part of the new SR22 G7 Plus aircraft, is enabled with the press of a button. It lets the plane talk to air traffic control, find the nearest safe airport, land itself and shut down — all on its own.
While Safe Return has been part of the Vision Jet lineup since 2019, Cirrus says it had to completely rework it for the SR22 G7 Plus aircraft. In this version, the system doesn’t just fly the plane but completely controls the throttle. I got to see this system in action; watching the throttle lever move by itself felt like something straight out of Knight Rider, like KITT taking over the wheel.
Cirrus says the G7 Plus continues the company’s legacy for safety, which includes its whole-airframe parachute system, standard across all models, that has saved more than 270 lives.
On the tech front, the G7 Plus brings features such as:
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Electronic Stability Protection
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Emergency Descent Mode
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Over-the-air navigation updates
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Integrated touchscreen flight deck
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Notifying emergency responders
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Voice and visual emergency cues for passengers
Why this matters
The SR is a well-sized, beginner-friendly aircraft, ideal for learning to fly. Like any new skill, learning to fly comes with ups and downs, but with the G7 Plus, those “lows” are far less likely to end in disaster. One standout feature is its ability to detect abnormal flight patterns and autonomously take control to land the plane, even without manual activation of the Safe Return button. This is especially valuable when a pilot is flying solo and becomes incapacitated. During our flight, we used a demo version of the software that successfully landed the plane but didn’t notify emergency responders or communicate with air traffic control. We departed from Westchester County Airport and touched down at Stewart International Airport.
With nearly 20,000 public and private airports across the US, getting around in an SR22 could be safer and faster than driving.
The Cirrus SR22 G7 Plus — the same model we flew — is priced at $1,236,500. It is equipped with oxygen, Global Connect, air conditioning and a composite propeller.
In short, the Cirrus G7 Plus could be a glimpse into the future of personal aviation by making cutting-edge safety tech more accessible.