ETW Staff– Mumbai
Honeywell Aerospace has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Air India enabling the airline to explore how Honeywell’s SmartRunway/ SmartLanding software upgrade can help it increase safety, improve pilot situational awareness and lower cockpit workload across its Boeing 777 fleet. The SmartRunway/ SmartLanding upgrade helps mitigate runway accidents that cost the worldwide aviation industry US$ one billion annually for injuries, damage, repairs and inspections.
AK Mathew, executive director of engineering, Air India, said, “At Air India we are constantly looking for innovative ways to bring our passengers new levels of safety and comfort when they fly with us. As we expand our network our pilots are required to fly into an ever-growing number of airports, many of which are continually changing in terms of layout. SmartRunway/ SmartLanding could make it easier for our pilots to navigate these airports regardless of visibility, and extend passenger safety even further in the process.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Air India will trial SmartRunway/ SmartLanding for six months and share operational data with Honeywell to enable the two companies to examine the potential safety gains the airline would see if it deployed the software across its entire Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)-equipped B777 fleet. The software upgrade reduces crew workload as pilots spend less time orientating themselves, even in low visibility or at night. This is especially crucial as airlines grow their networks, train new pilots, ramp up traffic, and begin flying to new or rapidly developing airports.
Honeywell’s SmartRunway/ SmartLanding system uses GPS location information and airport and object data stored in Honeywell’s Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning (EGPWS) database to determine if the aircraft is configured properly for landing, taxiing and take-off. This can dramatically reduce runway incursions, where collisions occur on the runway, or runway excursions, where aircraft accidentally leave the runway or enter a runway they are not approved for.
