ZD 951 landed at Edinburgh back in 1992. As I was inbetween jobs on the ramp I had the chance to go along and have a look around it. I had a word with the Captain and he kindly allowed me into the Cockpit. I had recently finished my Auto-pilot course and recognised the ‘Barber poles’ of the para visual display indicating that the Aircraft had Cat IIIb capability. I commented on this and was told that although the Aircraft could do it, the Aircrew were only allowed to land in Cat I conditions.
From my course – as I remember – five requirements had to be met before an Autoland could be carried out; the Airline had to have procedures in place such as identifying and labelling the relevant black boxes, the Aircraft had to be Autoland certified, the Aircrew had to be trained and qualified, the Airfield had to have the necessary standard of equipment and those carrying out the Maintenance on the system had to be Autoland qualified.