In instrument landing system operations, what does a 'coupled' or 'autoland' approach imply?

• A. Visual navigation only
• B. Manual guidance without ILS
• C. Automatic guidance using the instrument landing system
• D. Hold at the final approach fix

Answer: (C)

The main idea is automatic guidance using the instrument landing system. When an approach is coupled or an autoland is selected, the airplane’s autopilot (with the flight director) is connected to the ILS receiver. The ILS provides two guiding signals: localizer for left-right alignment and glideslope for vertical descent. With coupling, the autopilot follows these signals to fly the aircraft precisely along the published approach path toward the runway. In an autoland, the system can manage the landing automatically, sometimes handling the flare and touchdown, depending on the aircraft and conditions. The pilot still supervises and can take control if needed. This is different from flying a procedure visually or manually without using the ILS signals.