Landing an airliner in fog · Ceded (since 1965)

On 10 June 1965 a British European Airways Trident 1C landed itself at London Heathrow at the end of flight BE343 from Paris, the first automatic landing on a scheduled passenger service.

The Smiths autoland system flew the approach, the flare and the touchdown while the crew watched the instruments. By 1968 the fleet was cleared for Category III approaches, which means landing when the visibility is too poor for a pilot to see the runway in time to use the sight of it. What was ceded is the hand flying of a low visibility approach, the manoeuvre that used to mark out the pilots an airline trusted in winter. Not ceded: the decision to begin the approach, the go around, and the diversion, all of which stay with the captain. The system is also a joint object rather than an onboard skill, since it will not work unless the airport carries and maintains the ground equipment.