Emirates goes one step further to boost landing safety

This new product builds on existing Honeywell technologies to address runway incursions and excursions, and incorporates the Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS).

“Emirates has performed numerous evaluations of the SmartLanding advisories in its simulator with pilots and will be the first to incorporate these new safety features in the majority of its fleet,” says TK Kallenbach, vice president of product management, Honeywell Aerospace.

SmartLanding is expected to be incorporated into Emirates Boeing 777-200/300 and Airbus A330 and A340 during the remainder of this year.

SmartLanding reduces the risk of runway incidents by alerting pilots if the aircraft is approaching too high, too fast or is not configured properly for landing – common components of an unstabilised approach.

Captain Alan Stealey, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president flight operations says: “Emirates is committed to invest in the latest aircraft and technology, to provide our customers with safe and comfortable journeys. We were one of the first airlines to implement the first generation RAAS two years ago; this latest initiative with Honeywell is an extension of that commitment. We are very excited to be working with Honeywell on this technology, which will ensure our flight deck crew continue to be supported by the best safety systems in the industry.”

Honeywell’s SmartLanding is a software enhancement to the proven Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), installed on more than 30,000 airline and business aviation aircraft. Through a simple software upgrade to EGPWS, SmartLanding improves pilot situational awareness and helps break the chain of events that can lead to a runway problem, by providing aural and visual alerts upon approach if the aircraft has not met established safety criteria.

Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data, SmartLanding alerts are based on aircraft position, speed and flight path compared to airport runway locations stored in Honeywell’s worldwide terrain and runway database, which has proven itself for more than 600 million flight hours.

With both auditory alerts and visual messaging, Honeywell’s system supports both heads-up and quiet cockpits.

SmartLanding complements Standard Operating Procedures and FOQA / Flight Data Monitoring programs to improve safety by encouraging compliance with stabilised approach criteria:

•  Aircraft should be stable at 1000 feet above the runway

•  Aircraft must be stable at 500 feet above the runway

•  Aircraft is properly configured to land

•  Aircraft is on the correct vertical path to land