When a pilot experiences an uncommanded loss of engine power in flight, the first step is to establish best glide airspeed, and the next is to find a place to land. Sometimes the latter can be a challenge if a pilot is flying over unfamiliar terrain.
Now Jeppesen ForeFlight is taking the guesswork out of the “where will you go?” question through the creation of Emergency Glide Mode (EGM), which identifies the best place to land given the aircraft’s altitude, airspeed, and the winds.
Pilots familiar with ForeFlight Glide Advisor know that it shows the glide range of the aircraft in the event of a loss of engine power. Emergency Glide Mode takes the knowledge one step further. When activated, it depicts reachable airports and, if none are available, the best choices for a potential off-airport landing.
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Nearby airports are listed based on factors including distance, runway length, current altitude and heading, winds aloft, and real-time weather conditions. The EGM also indicates the expected altitude above ground level (agl) upon arriving at the selected airport, allowing for better situational awareness.
If there are no suitable airports within glide range, EGM instead highlights possible landing areas. The company said this is done by using a sophisticated algorithm applied to U.S. Geological Survey data, providing the pilot with a high-resolution map of potential off-airport landing sites.
![Jeppesen ForeFlight’s Emergency Glide Mode gives pilots the ability to find the best places to land when the engine quits, eliminating the guesswork. [Credit: Jeppesen ForeFlight]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_0599-1-1024x712.png)
The minimum length of a potential landing strip is 1,000 feet. The analysis includes the type of terrain, infrastructure (such as powerlines), distance from obstacles, surface grade, and tree canopy density. Sometimes in an emergency a “best bet” is all the pilot is going to get, then it comes down to picking terrain that provides the best possible outcome.
With Emergency Glide Mode installed, when activated ForeFlight automatically configures best glide speed and ratio for many aircraft types. Users can customize it for their aircraft.
Once Glide Advisor is enabled, Emergency Glide Mode can be activated in flight with a single tap. It also automatically enables situational awareness tools such as instrument panel, extended centerlines, and track vector if not already active. This enables pilots to establish a direct route to the landing site.
“Emergency Glide Mode helps pilots who’ve lost all engine power quickly identify and prioritize the best available airports within gliding range based on their aircraft’s performance,” said Cole Crawford, product manager at Jeppesen ForeFlight, in a news release. “When no airport is reachable, it points you in the most promising direction so you can get your eyes outside faster.”