Air Canada Jazz Will Equip Its CRJ705s With System
Aero-News learned Wednesday Rockwell Collins just received
a hat-trick of certifications for its HGS-4200 Head-up Guidance
System. The system is now certified by the European Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport
Canada (TC) for use on Bombardier CRJ705 and Bombardier CRJ900
aircraft.
The certifications come at the end of what was truly a team
effort. Rockwell Collins worked with Bombardier and Air Canada Jazz
to achieve this certification, with Air Canada Jazz providing the
flight test aircraft used to conduct certification flights. Those
flights included 40 HGS approaches into several Canadian and US
airfields.
Bombardier provided a CRJ900 simulator and related support for
the certification effort. The certification program required 335
simulated HGS approaches to be flown in a wide variety of
environmental conditions.
The HGS-4200 displays critical flight information in the pilot's
forward field of view. Aircraft flight path and acceleration
symbols and command guidance appear overlaying the outside scene
allowing precision hand-flown approaches, enhancing situational
awareness and improving aircraft energy management. Additional
features include the display of runway remaining information,
tailstrike avoidance and unusual attitude recovery symbology.
With certifications in hand, Rockwell Collins also announced
Wednesday that Air Canada Jazz will be the first operator system,
with the Air Canada regional affiliate equipping its fleet of 15
CRJ705 aircraft with the HGS-4200 by March 2007. The airline
currently operates 58 HGS-equipped CRJ200's capable of Category III
operations.
"The HGS-4200 will provide Air Canada Jazz with Category III
approach capability, as well as improved low visibility capability
for Category I approaches," said John Desmond, vice president,
Head-Up Guidance Systems for Rockwell Collins. "It will provide
them with more flexibility in the challenging weather conditions
that they frequently encounter."
"The HGS will allow us to land safely with the lowest required
weather minimums at any airport in Canada," said Captain Jim Myers,
chief pilot, flight technical. "This increases operational
flexibility, helps our mission completion rate, and increases
passenger satisfaction -- especially at airports with frequent fog
events."