EASA Certifies Honeywell's Hail And Lightning Prediction And Extended Turbulence Detection Features

Turkey's Pegasus Airlines will be the first European carrier to fly with Honeywell's IntuVue 3-D Weather Radar Hazard Display Update V1.0. The system was recently certified by EASA for use in Europe.

The company says upgrade will allow the airline to reduce unscheduled maintenance costs and aircraft grounding through IntuVue's new features that simplify decision-making about re-routing and tactical maneuvering around inclement weather. Honeywell will install the software upgrade across the airline's 42 IntuVue-equipped Boeing 737s over the next eight months.

"Receiving EASA certification and our first European customer for our IntuVue upgrade is testament to the industry's desire for an advanced weather radar system that provides pilots with more timely and superior information," said John Ashton, Vice President, Airlines, Honeywell Aerospace EMEAI. "Weather-related incidents continue to cost airlines significant amounts of money and impact the safety and comfort of passengers. Pegasus Airlines is mitigating this by flying the most advanced and capable weather radar on the market today."

Honeywell says IntuVue offers an increase in system reliability by up to 45 percent, 30 percent lower maintenance costs and a 25 percent weight reduction compared with competing radars(1). IntuVue's 3-D volumetric buffer builds and stores a 3-D picture of the weather ahead from real-time data captured by the radar, which automatically scans and gathers data from ground-level to 60,000 feet and out to 320 nautical miles. This 3-D picture makes it easier for pilots to more accurately navigate around, or over, the storm cell and reduces delays, turn-backs or diversions. In addition, features of the new Hazard V1.0 upgrade include:

• Predictive hail and lightning, which applies complex algorithms to data stored in the 3-D volumetric buffer to identify storm cells likely to generate such weather features. These are then displayed on the flight display over the respective storm as icons.
• The industry's longest turbulence detection capability of up to 60 nautical miles. At typical cruise speed this will enable the pilots to give cabin crew and passengers prior warning approximately eight to 10 minutes before the aircraft reaches turbulence.
• Rain Echo Attenuation Compensation Technique (REACT) is able to indicate where further bad weather may be hidden behind storm cells too dense for radar to penetrate. REACT also helps pilots understand how far out from the aircraft severe storms are located, helping them to continue to plan a safe flight path.

FMI: www.honeywell.com