A recently updated US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ruling will allow airlines to operate in almost all visibility conditions with the assistance of Elbit Systems’ Clear Vision Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS).
Elbit explains that its EFVS is aligned with the most updated ruling released by the FAA, enabling the pilot to perform a full landing procedure with no natural vision.
The company says its EFVS will have an effect in three major visibility conditions: it will allow take off when the visibility in the destination is under the minima; it will allow the start of an approach procedure to an airport in which the visibility in under the minima; and it will enable the release of an approach ban caused by very low visibility.
According to Dror Yahav, vice-president of commercial aviation for Elbit’s aerospace division, the EFVS was designed with a forward-thinking approach consistent with the recently updated FAA ruling.
“The system proved an unmatched capability to enable dispatch and landing approach priority as well as low visibility landing, regardless of the destination airport’s infrastructure,” Yahav says. “This will save airlines huge sums of money and will help them keep their schedules that are affected now by visibility.”
Before the updated ruling, EFVS was approved for use only for descent to 100ft above the touchdown zone elevation (TDZE) using straight-in landing instrument approach procedures (IAPs).
The new ruling allows operators to use an EFVS and not natural vision to continue descending from 100ft above the TDZE to the runway, and to land with certain straight-in IAPs under instrument flight rules.
The ruling also updates the regulations to initiate and continue an approach when the destination airport’s weather is below authorised visibility minimums for the runway.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
