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."

FMI: www.rockwellcollins.com, www.flyjazz.ca