noun

• A device for keeping an aircraft on a set course without the intervention of the pilot.

  ‘Disengage the automatic pilot and contact the control tower for clearance.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The speed valves control the rate at which the automatic pilot reacts to bring the airplane back on its course.’
  • ‘After climbing out and disappearing from sight above the clouds, the pilot switched on the automatic pilot and sat back, the story goes.’
  • ‘Of course, formation flying was no place for an automatic pilot, but for lead ships in the formation they would have been really handy.’
  • ‘The automatic pilot is engaged, but the pilots don't relax until we leave dangerous airspace.’
  • ‘In the Indiana crash, the automatic pilot shut down when the icing became extreme and returned control of the craft to the pilots.’
  • ‘Those conditions forced its automatic pilot to change course quickly.’
  • ‘He changed course to starboard and, implementing David's suggestion, set the automatic pilot and went to make himself some coffee, which he wanted badly.’
  • ‘The automatic pilot had been programmed to fly the plane to Athens airport, and it was unclear how or why it had been disengaged, he said.’
  • ‘In 1965, a British European Airways jet airliner made the first landing by automatic pilot.’
  • ‘As Flight Engineer he must monitor the various manoeuvres, which are performed by automatic pilot, making sure that everything runs smoothly.’