Definition
The onboard equipment that can control the airplane's flight path and manage navigation with reduced direct pilot input, including the autopilot, flight director, autothrottle, GPS navigators, and flight management systems. These systems can hold headings, altitudes, and courses, fly programmed routes, and present navigation guidance on cockpit displays.
Plain English
The cockpit equipment that can fly the airplane and follow a route for you, so you don't have to hand-fly every moment or work out every navigation step yourself.
Context Anchor
You encounter this term when discussing cockpit workload, automation use, route guidance, and how pilots manage attention during flight.
Derivation
Automated comes from a Greek root meaning self-acting. Navigation comes from older words connected with ships and travel. Together, the phrase points to systems that can act on pilot instructions to help direct the airplane, but they are still tools used by the pilot.
Why Pilots Care
These systems reduce pilot workload during long flights but require constant monitoring to avoid unexpected deviations or loss of situational awareness.
Grounding Statement
The system can help keep the airplane on a selected path, but it only follows the information and settings it has been given.
Intuition Check
Automated does not mean the airplane is fully independent. It means the system can perform certain flight or navigation tasks after the pilot sets it up and monitors it.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor reminded the student that automated flight and navigation systems are tools to support the pilot, not replace pilot judgment.
Example Sentence 2
During instrument approach training, the instructor stressed that the pilot must remain ready to disconnect the automated flight and navigation systems if the aircraft deviates from the expected path.