Mon, Jun 24, 2013
Installation Of New Avionics Already In Progress
Bristow Group, which provides helicopter transport services for offshore oil and gas and government operations, is retrofitting a fleet of 44 helicopters, including Sikorsky S-76 C++ and Sikorsky S-92A aircraft with Rockwell Collins’ Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance (TCAS II) system. Installations are in progress.
Rockwell Collins, working in collaboration with Bristow Group’s U.K. affiliate, Bristow Helicopters Ltd., was the first avionics company to retrofit and certify TCAS II for helicopters. The system is certified for industry-standard ‘unknown vibration levels’, meaning it can be installed on any helicopter platform.
“It’s gratifying to see the progress and safety benefits this technology is bringing since first collaborating with Bristow to pioneer and ruggedize TCAS II for helicopters in 2008,” said Greg Irmen, vice president and general manager, Business and Regional Systems for Rockwell Collins. “The challenging missions that Bristow flies—especially over the North Sea—necessitate the potentially life-saving safety benefit that our TCAS II system brings.”
The collaboration between Rockwell Collins and Bristow Helicopters Ltd. and resulting TCAS II innovation for helicopters was a catalyst for the system to be forward fit by helicopter manufacturers. In early 2012, Eurocopter became the first company to do so by installing Rockwell Collins’ TTR-4000 on an EC225 Super Puma Mk II+.
TCAS II, required on aircraft carrying more than 15 passengers, works by interrogating the air traffic control (ATC) transponders of other nearby aircraft to determine and display their altitudes, ranges and relative positions. Rockwell Collins’ TCAS II computer uses sophisticated algorithms and interrogation techniques to calculate the speed, direction and conflict potential of these targets and if necessary, computes and displays a recommended vertical avoidance maneuver to ensure safe separation.
In addition to enabling TCAS II on helicopters, Rockwell Collins’ TTR-4100 can be implemented on business and regional jets for enhanced traffic awareness.
(Pictured: Bristow Super Puma helicopter)
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