Xavion, developed by American Austin Meyer, connects with a small-plane's autopilot via Wi-Fi to guide you to the nearest airport or safe landing area should the engine fail.

And in the next update, it is expected the app will become more active autopilot than virtual, using information throughout the flight to actually land the plane.

The new update will take out the need for human intervention to land the aircraft, as the App takes control of the autopilot.

Tests of the App have concluded that, while the pilot taking back control of the aircraft will give a smooth landing, a Xavion/autopilot combo will land the plane regardless, though damage to the shell may occur.

Speaking to Popular Science, Meyer said: 'Our tests took us practically all the way down to touchdown. If the pilot didn’t take over, he would have just had a hard landing, broken the landing gear, and everyone would have walked away.' 

The current version can provide weight and balance checks, and estimate fuel burn and time to your destination at various altitudes. 

Information is collected through the flight, including locations of airports and how much fuel is left to make a safe landing site, that can enable the pilot to make an informed decision and land the aircraft. 

Reading from your iPhone or iPad’s internal sensors, Xavion figures out your current location and attitude. Based on GPS signals, it also displays a ground-track, ground-speed, altitude, and vertical speed.

(dailymail.co.uk)