Intriguing Efforts Help Protect Helos From Wire-Strikes and Collisions

We are always intrigued by new and innovative technologies designed to protect aviators from some of the hazards that may befall us... and a new effort from Sandel seems to be one to watch.

Several months ago, Sandel Avionics showed ANN a new adaptive wire-strike avoidance feature called WireWatch, which will be implemented through the company's advanced ST3400H HeliTAWS terrain avoidance system. Comprising a detailed database and a proactive alerting capability, WireWatch can enhance the operational safety that HeliTAWS brings to the cockpit by helping helicopter pilots avoid transmission lines and other such hard-to-see hazards.

Sandel CEO, Gerry Block, says that he sees, "...WireWatch as one of a series of important safety enhancements that HeliTAWS can provide for all kinds of helicopter operations. Just as HeliTAWS itself helps pilots avoid controlled flight into terrain, our WireWatch feature helps eliminate the hazard of near-invisible transmission lines by enabling helicopter crews to spot known wires."

Sandel's ST3400H HeliTAWS is a 3-ATI terrain safety system that uses 'TrueAlert' adaptive algorithms to understand pilot intent and provide terrain alerting while trying to avoid nuisance alerts. With TrueAlert, pilots can safely take off, cruise, hover and land at off-airport locations without triggering nuisance alerts, while still receiving the established benefits of Class-A terrain and obstacle warnings during the entire flight.

The system is completely automatic and does not require pilot management of the phase of flight.

FMI: www.sandel.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews