But What Is RAAS?

No, it's not some rare disease, or a the sounds you hear at a cheerleading contest. RAAS is a Runway Awareness and Advisory System designed by Honeywell and soon to be installed in the Malaysia Airlines Fleet. This will be the first airline in Asia to install this safety system.

Honeywell's Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) is a new safety system that helps pilots avoid on-ground incidents.

"We decided to add RAAS to our whole fleet as a continuous process to further enhance the safety of our operations," said Dato Captain Nawawi Awang, Malaysia Airlines' Senior General Manager, Flight Operations.

Honeywell's research has shown that many ground incidents are related to pilots losing awareness of the aircraft's location in relation to runways. The RAAS uses a GPS to monitor the airplane's location and compares it to an integral runway map.

It advises pilots when the aircraft is about to taxi onto a runway, if the runway chosen for takeoff or landing is too short or if the flight crew is attempting to take off from a taxiway. It also provides the runway identification to help pilots be certain they are taking off or landing on the intended runway.

RAAS is a software application hosted on Honeywell's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, a safety system that alerts pilots if the aircraft approaches too close to terrain or a tall structure.

FMI: www.honeywell.com