It was a night tailor-made for flying– smooth air, barely a cloud in the sky and miles of visibility. The center controller had handed the crew off to approach control with a friendly, “G’night,” and within a few minutes the pilots were cleared for a visual approach to the active runway about 15 miles straight ahead. From their position, the crew could easily see the airport, enveloped by the sodium-vapor shimmer of the city’s vast downtown.
Warning systems
October 17, 2006 - 10:45am
The FAA has withdrawn a decade-old proposal to rescind its requirement for mode-S transponders and, consequently, plans to end the hundreds of mode-S installation exemptions currently in effect for Part 121 and 135 operators.
October 9, 2006 - 2:17pm
Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS), a joint L-3 Communications and Thales company, used last month’s Paris Air Show to introduce technology intended to warn pilots of runway and taxiway incursions.
October 9, 2006 - 2:01pm
Grob’s SPn, a carbon-fiber light business twinjet introduced at last month’s Paris Air Show, will enter production with the Honeywell Apex avionics system, according to officials from the German company.
October 9, 2006 - 6:48am
The Schleicher sailplane that collided with a NetJets Hawker 800XP at about 16,000 feet near Smith, Nev., on August 28 was equipped with a transponder but it was not turned on. Transponder activation is not required for glider operations below 18,000 feet msl and outside controlled airspace.
October 5, 2006 - 6:24am
The FAA has completed the first round of flight testing of a unique traffic collision avoidance system that combines automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) technology and traffic information service (TIS) avionics through a sophisticated network the agency describes as an “integrated airborne Internet.”
October 2, 2006 - 10:52am
The optional interfaces let pilots overlay nav waypoint data with precipitation, lightning and traffic information. The SN3500 accepts sensor input from a variety of TCAS I and TAS products and displays standard TCAS symbology on its high-resolution color display, according to Sandel. A Stormscope interface is a standard feature of the $9,950 unit, with the weather and traffic upgrade options starting at $1,500.
September 28, 2006 - 10:18am
Terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) designed specifically for helicopters may soon be in hot demand, following the January 25 release of a report by the NTSB calling for the FAA to impose tighter safety guidelines for helicopter emergency medical service flights.
September 27, 2006 - 4:22am
Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS), the Phoenix avionics maker owned jointly by L-3 Communications and Thales, has been holding discussions with a number of business aircraft OEMs about a portfolio of avionics-hosted software it plans to offer based on TCAS and ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) technology.
September 22, 2006 - 6:12am
Over the last 10 years business aviation safety has improved immensely. During the same period, the entire aviation industry has been subject to a number of equipment, avionics and procedural requirements designed to reduce accidents.
