Stunning video shows autopilot saving unconscious F-16 pilot from crashing

A newly declassified U.S. Air Force Arizona Air National Guard video shows how a recently installed autopilot system saved the life of an F-16 pilot who had fallen unconscious in the middle of his flight.

In the above video, the jet goes into a nosedive as the pilot falls unconscious. The dropping altitude is shown on the right side of the frame. According to Aviation Week, which first published the video:

In this instance, an international F-16 student pilot was undergoing basic fighter maneuver training with his USAF instructor pilot in two separate F-16s over the U.S. southwest.  The student rolled and started to pull the aircraft but experienced G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) as the F-16 hit around 8.3g. With the pilot now unconscious, the aircraft’s nose dropped and, from an altitude of just over 17,000 ft., entered a steepening dive in full afterburner. 

That's when the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) kicks in, at about the 32-second mark, pulling the jet out of its nosedive.

According to Aviation Week, the pilot regained consciousness around that moment and was able to take control again.

The Auto-GCAS system, developed by Lockheed Martin, NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory, compares onboard terrain data to the jet's trajectory. If the system indicates a potential meeting of terrain with trajectory, the autopilot engages.

The example above is reportedly the fourth "save" made by the Auto-GCAS. The first was reportedly of an F-16C flying an anti-ISIS combat mission over Syria in 2015. The system was tested for several years beginning in 2009 and the Air Force announced in 2013 the system would be implemented into the F-16 fleet.