Modern Helicopter Avionics Enhance Safety and Situational Awareness - Whitepaperpdf.render

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING
Modern helicopter
avionics enhance safety
and situational awareness
Controlled fight into terrain (CFIT) and
inadvertent instrument meteorological conditions
(IMC) continue to be costly for the rotorcraft
community. The effects of helicopter accidents
are far-reaching and long-lasting. Avionics
technology frms are proactively working with
industry organizations to enhance fight crew
situational awareness and increase safety.
Download this free, informative guide to learn
how helicopter operators, airframe manufacturers
(such as AgustaWestland, Korea Aerospace, and
Sikorsky), professional helicopter organizations
(such as IHST), and technology innovators
(including Sandel Avionics, Garmin, Honeywell,
and Rockwell Collins) are working together and
putting modern avionics into action to reduce
helicopter accidents and fatalities.
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Enhancing
pilot situational
awareness for
increased safety
18
All collaborate
on helicopter
crash test
21
Avionics in
action
25
Spotlight on
helicopter
safety
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Enhancing pilot situational
awareness for increased safety
Modern helicopter avionics technologies enhance
situational awareness to increase safety and
reduce common aviation accidents.
By COURTNEY E. HOWARD
A
VIATION ACCIDENTS CAN have far-reaching effects and often
unforeseen consequences. Rather than recoiling in reaction to
helicopter-related fatalities, the rotorcraft community has banded
together and taken a proactive approachadvancing cockpit avionics
technologies to aid in reducing unfortunate aviation incidents, assisting pilots,
and bolstering safety.
Industry & government partner
Government regulators, aircraft and avionics manufacturers, and helicopter
operators came to a consensus in 2005 that the rate of worldwide helicopter
accidents was unacceptably high. By the end of the year, leaders from the
American Helicopter Society (AHS), Helicopter Association International
(HAI), manufacturers and other interested organizations, and the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) had joined together to establish the International
Enhancing pilot situational awareness for increased safety
4
Helicopter Safety Team (IHST). IHST is a global group of industry and government
professionals working in concert toward an aggressive goal: to reduce the
worldwide helicopter accident rate by 80 percent in 10 years (by 2016).
The IHST developed and implemented a data-driven, beneft-focused safety
program designed to continuously reduce the risk of helicopter accidents,
describes a representative. The IHST chartered a Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis
Team (JHSAT) to develop data-driven safety recommendations in pursuit of
the goal to reduce the accident rate and fatality risk. The JHSAT includes
key stakeholders in helicopter design, manufacture, operation, training, and
regulation. (Read more on IHST in Spotlight on helicopter safety, an interview
with Fred Brisbois, Co-chair, U.S. Safety Implementation Team, IHST Executive
Committee.)
IHST professionals in the U.S., Canada, and Europe analyzed more than 800
helicopter accidents and issued four intervention recommendations: implement
safety management systems (SMS); improve training (including simulator/
fight training device utilization, and aeronautical decision-making); improve
maintenance practices; and leverage new technologies though new systems
and equipment. Avionics technology plays a major role throughout these safety
recommendations.
Accident statistics
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) named 2012 the safest year
in recent aviation history for fxed-wing commercial aviation; however, helicopter
safety is still a paramount concern, admits Trish Ververs, engineer fellow with
Honeywells Advanced Technology Group in Baltimore, Md. Her concerns are well
founded.
In 2012, HeliHub (http://helihub.com/) recorded a total of 133 fatal helicopter
accidents, involving the loss of 420 lives. Military helicopters accounted for 50
such events and 246 lives (4.9 per accident), while civil helicopters were involved
on 83 occasions with 174 lives lost (2.1 per accident).
Many factors likely contribute to a higher incidence of accidents and fatalities
compared to fxed-wing aircraft. Helicopter missions often operate close to
5
challenging terrain and involve off-airport takeoffs and landings, notes a
spokesperson at Sandel Avionics in Vista, Calif. Helicopters routinely operate
below 500 feet above ground level (AGL); obstacles and especially power lines are
a threat to helicopter operations throughout the mission, not just at takeoff and
landing.
Curtailing causes
Controlled fight into terrain (CFIT) and inadvertent instrument meteorological
conditions (IMC) are associated with a great many helicopter accidents and,
therefore, the focus of many safety discussions. Both CFIT and inadvertent IMC
involve diminishing visibility and, in turn, a loss of situational awarenessor
knowledge of ones surroundings.
CFIT has been a major aviation safety issue for several decades, Robert O.
Phillips of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) admitted in his report, Investigation of Controlled Flight
into Terrain: Descriptions of Flight Paths for Selected Controlled Flight into
Terrain (CFIT) Aircraft Accidents, 1985-1997.
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A CFIT accident occurs when an airworthy aircraft, experiencing no contributory
systems or equipment problems, under the control of a certifcated, fully qualifed
fight crew no suffering from any impairment, is fown into terrain (or water or
obstacle) with no demonstrated prior awareness of the impending collision on
the part of the crew. Or, if the fight crew was aware of the impending collision,
they were unable to prevent it, Phillips wrote, referencing David Spiller of the
Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass. (Spiller wrote:
Investigation of CFIT Accidents Involving Multi-Engine, Fixed-Wing Aircraft
Operating under Part 135 and the Potential Application of a Ground Proximity
Warning System in 1989.)
Most CFIT accidents have in common a chain of events leading to what human
factors experts term lack of situational awareness on the part of the fight crew,
Phillips affrms. Conditions of limited visibility (due to darkness or weather or
both) are typically a major contributing factor.
A majority of such accidents involve high-speed impacts and, as a result,
typically have disastrous consequences. In fact, statistics from the U.S. National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington indicate that 60 percent of
all CFIT accidents are fatal. For this and other reasons, CFIT accidents continue
to be a primary cause of fatalities and airframe losses in aviation, explained
Major Michael L. Moroze and Dr. Michael P. Snow, Air Force Research Laboratory
(AFRL), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, in their paper, Causes and
Remedies of Controlled Flight into Terrain in Military and Civil Aviation.
Over 50 percent of CFIT mishaps have situational awareness components listed
as contributing factors, Moroze and Snow wrote. Several authors suggest that
one of the most common attributes of CFIT accidents is pilot or crew lack of
situation awareness. Other authors investigating this issue more specifcally
identify this behavior as a lack of terrain situation awareness or terrain
awareness. In any case, it is the overall lack of the crews understanding of where
they are and where they are going in three-dimensional (3D) space that enable
CFIT to occur.
CFIT accident prevention has been the focus of considerable effort over the past
30 years on the part of government and industry, Phillips described. Preventing
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CFIT is, unfortunately, not an issue to be addressed solely by pilot training and
experience. Similarly, Moroze and Snow concluded in their 1999 paper that
systems are needed to improve fight crew situation awareness, especially terrain
awareness.
Tapping technology
CFIT remains the leading cause of aviation accidents worldwide, according
to a representative at FlightSafety International in Flushing, N.Y. Yet, new
developments in aircraft technology can increase a pilots awareness of terrain.
Sandel Avionics offcials agree, noting: CFIT is a real and growing threat to
helicopters. As the accident rate rises, private and public entities must fnd a
solution to address the issue in an effcient and cost-effective way.
Avionics technologies play a key role in reducing CFIT and inadvertent
Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). Technology frms are increasingly
providing affordable, fexible, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology that
designed to deliver enhanced situational awareness in a number of ways, such as:
streamlining cockpit avionics interfaces, reducing pilot workload, providing 3D
synthetic views of obstacles, and helping fight crews recognize and avoid hazards
to prevent accidents.
Operator experience
A pilot can easily be task saturated and over stimulated by too many items in
the cockpit, recognizes Brett Harlow, military/government aviation business
development manager at Garmin International in Olathe, Kan. We have
shown improvement in pilot interface by making it a lot easier to learn. And by
condensing it into one to two simple screens, like Garmin has done, you also
minimize the heads down time and keep them looking outside longer.
Garmin offcials have been working closely with the Defense Safety Oversight
Council (DSOC), which provides governance on U.S. Department of Defense
(DOD)-wide efforts to reduce preventable mishaps. Garmins objective is to add a
level of safety not seen before in the military environment, Harlow says. Garmins
COTS GNS/GTN navigators are designed to simplify installation and minimize
down time, for example. By adding a helicopter terrain awareness and warning
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system (HTAWS), in-fight weather, traffc, back-up radios, and communications,
we not only improve safety of fight, but make the pilots and crews life a lot
easier.
The Garmin GTN 750/650 features a helicopter-specifc obstacle database with
nearly 30,000 low-altitude obstacles, as well as a navigation database with
heliports and high-resolution terrain. For added safety, optional HTAWS provides
fve-color shading to show nearby terrain in proximity to your helicopter, and
provides voice callouts when descending below 500 feet, Harlow describes. The
GTN 750/650 is available with optional enhancements tailored to the demands
of helicopter missions, and is optionally compatible with night vision imaging
systems (NVIS) for use with a wide range of optics.
Whats even better is when you pair the GTN series with a G500H, Harlow adds.
Dual 6.5-inch LCD screens, mounted side-by-side in a single bezel, put primary
fight display (PFD) and multifunction display (MFD) capabilities right in front
of you for easy scanning and interpretation. The PFD screen shows attitude,
airspeed, altitude, climb rate, and course/heading information, while the left-
side MFD provides detailed moving-map graphics with the helicopters current
position in relation to ground features, chart data, navaids, and fight plan
routings.
Synthetic vision is another safety beneft, adding 3D obstacles, terrain, and traffc
right in front of the pilot, Harlow explains. With technology advancing quickly,
its key to exploit those advances and use them for the right reasons.
Synthetic vision
Low visibility is a leading cause of helicopter accidents, observes Ververs at
Honeywell. The IHST reports that loss of pilot control accounts for one out of
every fve fatal helicopter accidents, and visibility issues are a close second.
This has shown that while helicopter fight is ultimately safe, there need to be
improvements to help it reach the level of fxed-wing safety.
Honeywells Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) uses inputs
position, attitude, air speed, and glideslope, along with internal terrain, obstacles,
and airport databasesto predict a potential confict between the aircrafts fight
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path and terrain or an obstacle that the pilot
might not see, such as radio towers or buildings.
As a result of EGPWS, the risk of controlled
fight into terrain is now 50 times less in Western
Europe and North America than it was in 1991,
making this one of the biggest success stories in
the history of aviation, Ververs says. Since the
introduction of EGPWS in 1996, Honeywell has
received reports of more than 30 incidents where
the EGPWS gave an alert and provided pilots with
timely awareness of terrain in fight situations.
Honeywell engineers have worked on integrating
the EGPWS with its SmartView Synthetic Vision
System (SVS) to provide an enhanced terrain and
obstacle awareness of threats.
Honeywell has showcased the benefts of
safety technology and advanced avionics, such
as the companys EGPWS and SVS, for fxed-
wing aircraft, and demonstrated how those
technologies can increase the safety of a fxed-
wing fight. With the continued growth of the helicopter industry and helicopters
being used in more adverse and varied environments compared with fxed-
wing platforms, Honeywell understands the immense safety benefts to bring
these technologies to the rotorcraft industry, Ververs explains. Honeywell is
focusing on helping the industry achieve the IHSTs bold goal to reduce helicopter
accidents by 80 percent by 2016, by working with OEMs and the industry
to provide advancements in safety technology, specifcally for low-visibility
scenarios.
One way Honeywell is doing this by taking its Synthetic Vision System, which
provides pilots with a synthetic view of the outside world in low-visibility
situations, and bringing it to the helicopter industry, Ververs continues.
Helicopter pilots can use NextGen technologies, such as SmartView Synthetic
Vision System (SVS), to greatly decrease the chances of CFIT that happens as a
result of low visibility.
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Honeywell SmartView provides helicopter pilots with real-time views of the
location of the aircraft in relation to surrounding terrain, and a 3D virtual
view outside the cockpit that is unencumbered by visual impediments, such as
fog, bad weather, or darkness, Ververs describes. SmartView is also a strategic
tool, offering guidance cues, terrain shading and other intuitive prompts to aid
helicopter pilots in critical decision-making ultimately improving pilots and
passengers overall safety, she says.
Rotorcraft & TAWS
The FAA is credited with having coined the term terrain awareness and warning
system (TAWS) to encompass a variety of current and future systems that meet the
requirements of FAA Proposed Technical Standard Order TSO-C151, Terrain Awareness
and Warning System, and TSO-C194, Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning
System. (Installation of HTAWS is defned in AC 27-1B, Certifcation of Normal
Category Rotorcraft, and AC 29-2C, Certifcation of Transport Category Rotorcraft.)
FAA on H-TAWS
On 27 June 2006, at the FAAs request, RTCA
Inc. established a Special Committee to develop
Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System
(H-TAWS) standards.These standards will be used
to develop FAA requirements for H-TAWS systems,
installation, and operations.
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To qualify as TAWS, the solution needs to include: a terrain display; terrain
awareness and alerting functions that use position information provided by
either a suitable internal position sensor or an on-board area navigational system
and an on-board terrain database; and ground proximity detection and alerting
functions (the traditional GPWS functions).
TAWS, because of these added capabilities, offers signifcant improvements over
traditional ground proximity warning systems (GPWS) equipment alert and alarm
times. The continuous terrain display feature of TAWS will greatly heighten fight
crew situational awareness in conditions of limited visibility, Phillips wrote in
Investigation of Controlled Flight into Terrain.
Warning times that were once measured in seconds, or were not generated at all
in non-precision approach situations, may now be measured in minutes. Rather
than just providing a last-ditch warning of imminent danger, this display will
enable crews to maneuver to avoid terrain well before it becomes an obstruction
to their fight path, Phillips added.
The FAA mandates the use of TAWS for certain fxed-wing aircraft, but not
helicopters. Regardless, helicopter operators continue to adopt helicopter-specifc
TAWS (H-TAWS or HTAWS).
HTAWS in action
FAA-recommended best practices for air ambulance operators or helicopter
emergency medical services (HEMS) includes TAWS. Even in the absence of an
FAA requirement, helicopter operators are adopting HTAWS equipage.
Military helicopters bring with them a variety of
unique requirements and standards (MIL-STD), in
addition to those of the FAArequirements that
Sandel Avionics engineers set out to meet and
exceed with the companys HeliTAWS products.
FAA TSO-C194 for helicopter terrain awareness
only applies to operations above 500 feet AGL.
In reality, however, a great many real-world
12
helicopter operations occur below this
level. Sandel Avionics ST3400H HeliTAWS
system not only is certifed for operations
below 500 feet, but also exceeds TSO-C194
compliance, according to a company
spokesperson. At the same time, the
MIL-STD version, the ST3453H Sandel
HeliTAWS, is designed to meet military
demands.
The commercial ST3400H Sandel HeliTAWS
multihazard avoidance system for
helicopters protects against terrain, wires,
and obstacles, and is certifed for nuisance-
free operation below en route altitudes.
Sandel HeliTAWS incorporate Sandel WireWatch onboard wire-strike avoidance
capability, TruAlert technology to eliminate nuisance alerts, and pilot-selectable
modes of operation. The ST3453H model adds MIL-STD-3009 NVIS, MIL-STD-810E
environmental qualifcation, and a built-in MIL-STD-1553B bus interface to the
commercial versions features.
Designed for such demanding missions as HEMS, oil rig operations, tactical
military support, airborne law enforcement, frefghting, and search & rescue,
Sandel HeliTAWS systems are automatic and do not require pilot management
of the phase of fight. HeliTAWS also boast an easy-to-interpret, color, high-
resolution display for 3D terrain, obstacles, fight plan, and traffc overlay, as well
as on-demand NVIS compatibility.
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Offcials at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, Conn., selected this new MIL-
STD version of Sandels COTS wire and terrain alerting system for forward-ft
installation aboard the companys S-70i Black Hawk helicopter.
Sandel Avionics also has begun delivery of MIL-STD-810G-qualifed Sandel
ST3453H HeliTAWS systems to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in South Korea.
Sandel is under a long-term supply agreement with KAI to provide the HeliTAWS
multihazard avoidance systems for factory installation on new KAI helicopters
manufactured in Korea, including KUH-1P models for the Korean National Police.
Having KAI include our HeliTAWS system is yet another example of the OEMs
dedication to helicopter safety and ensuring that its the number one priority
in helicopter operations, says Sandel President and CEO Gerry Block. We are
extremely proud to work with manufacturers like KAI to increase the availability
of technologies designed to make fying safer.
To start, KAI is equipping its KUH-1P model with HeliTAWS, enhancing the
capability of the Korean Utility Helicopter derivative designed specifcally for
airborne law enforcement requirements.
Flexible functionality
Whether it is emergency medical services (EMS), law enforcement, search and
rescue, or any number of other demanding mission profles, the very nature
of a typical helicopter mission means the aircrew must operate in potentially
dangerous environments, describes a spokesperson at Rockwell Collins in Cedar
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Eliminating visual clutter
The G5000H, Garmins latest and greatest integrated cockpit solution, is
currently being certifed to fy on the Bell 525 Relentless, a medium-lift
helicopter by Bell Helicopter, a Textron company in Hurst, Texas.
With its touchscreen controls that work with most fight gloves, G5000H
eliminates visual clutter.
Mechanical knobs, buttons,
and selector switches have
been replaced with a series
of large, landscape-oriented,
high-resolution displays,
explains Brett Harlow, military/
government aviation business
development manager at Garmin
International in Olathe, Kan.
Each display can function
independently as a primary fight display (PFD) or multifunction display (MFD),
and operate in multi-pane mode, enabling fight crew to two pages side-by-side
on a single display. You can choose to view your primary fight display, maps,
charts, checklists, synoptics, HTAWS, fight planning, weather, or video input
side-by-side on any of the displays.
The PFDs wide-screen aspect ratio provides a panoramic view of Garmins
Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology (HSVT), which enhances situational
awareness by creating a virtual reality depiction of ground and water
features, obstacles, and traffc in proximity to the aircraft, Harlow continues.
You get a realistic picture of what lies beyond the nose of your helicopter
even in solid IFR or nighttime VFR or low-visibility conditions.
An optional HTAWS in the G5000H predicts in advance where potential
hazards may lie and alerts the crew should they pose a threat, Harlow
describes. The fve-color Terrain Proximity display makes it easy to see just
how close you are to a potential threat, while voice callouts announce the
helicopters height above terrain while descending below 500 feet. And ADS-B
enhanced traffc collision avoidance alerting allows you to see what ATC sees,
thus allowing you to steer clear of other aircraft.
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Rapids, Iowa. To increase situational awareness and boost safety, Rockwell Collins
launched its HeliSure product line at the Paris Air Show in June 2013.
Rockwell Collins engineers designed the HeliSure family of products to provide
helicopter pilots with unprecedented situational awareness to help them meet the
challenges of fying in increasingly congested and hazard-flled airspace. To that
end, HeliSure delivers sensor data in real time through an intuitive user interface
that features 3D visualization for information that pilots can easily, quickly, and
effectively process.
When Rockwell Collins set out to introduce an H-TAWS solution, company
offcials were committed to providing a next-generation, FAA Technical Standard
Order (TSO), Class A, terrain awareness and warning system. Thats why we
chose Sandels HeliTAWS technology, says a company spokesperson. When
integrated with our large area displays (and in future Pro Line Fusion displays),
Sandels advanced, fight-proven algorithms combined with our high-integrity
databases give helicopter fight crews the best available graphical depiction of
terrain and obstacleseven in darkness and other low-visibility conditions.
Another advantage is that because the Sandel software is integrated directly into
our display hardware, there are no external processor boxes to install. That saves
weight and space.
AgustaWestland offcials have already selected Rockwell Collins HeliSure devices
for the companys AW149, AW189, AW101 and AW169 platforms. To date, the
HeliSure family includes the Helicopter Synthetic Vision System (H-SVS) and
Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (H-TAWS).
The HeliSure H-SVS matches the outside world and meets operator
requirements for improved situational awareness, particularly in degraded
visual environments, where an accurate understanding of the surrounding
terrain becomes critical, according to a company representative. Rockwell
Collins H-SVS features a high-resolution terrain and known obstacle database,
three-arc second resolution through all phases of fight for detailed synthetic
vision, and an integrated software application able to be ported to most current-
generation, large-format displays.
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The HeliSure H-TAWS product enhances mission safety by providing pilots with
advanced warning about dangers along their fight path. Able to graphically
depict terrain and known obstacles, HeliSure H-TAWS addresses the proposed
FAA mandate for the use of an H-TAWS system by helicopter EMS operators, says
the spokesperson.
Rockwell Collins also offers its Head-up Guidance System (HGS), a commercial
head-up display (HUD), for enhanced situational awareness and energy
management in visual fight rules (VFR) and instrument fight rules (IFR) fight
conditions. HGS is designed to eliminate the need for pilots to continually
transition from head-down instruments to head-up, out-the-window view during
critical phases of fight.
Future
The helicopter industry is continuing to grow, Ververs acknowledges, and
Honeywells recent helicopter forecast showed that deliveries and demand for
helicopters will grow well into 2017 and beyond.
Air travel is set to double during the next 20 years, Ververs adds. The higher
volumes of air traffc will require increased situational awareness for pilots to
safely navigate more crowded skies and airports and do so in a safe and timely
manner. To that end, industry and government entities are working together to
advance cockpit technologies and, ultimately, make fights ever more effcient,
environmentally friendly, affordable, and safe.
COURTNEY HOWARD is chief editor of Avionics Intelligence, executive editor of
Military & Aerospace Electronics, and conference director of Avionics International.
Originally published September 2, 2013
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NASA, FAA, U.S. Navy, U.S.
Army, and industry collaborate
on helicopter crash test
by COURTNEY HOWARD
E
NGINEERS AT NASAS Langley
Research Center in Hampton,
Va., dropped a former Marine
CH-46E helicopter fuselage
flled with crash-test dummy occupants
and myriad electronics from a height of
roughly 30 feet to test improved seats
and seatbelts, as well as to gather data
related to helicopter crash survivability.
NASA engineers anticipate this rotary-
wing research will help make helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing
(VTOL) vehicles more serviceable (better able to carry more passengers and
cargo), quicker, quieter, safer, and greenerall lending to more extensive use in
the airspace system.
We designed this test to simulate a severe but survivable crash under both
civilian and military requirements, explains NASA lead test engineer Martin
Annett. It was amazingly complicated with all the dummies, cameras,
instrumentation and the collaborators, but it went well.
They used cables to hoist the helicopter fuselage with its mock passengers into
the air and swing it to the ground, much like a pendulum. It was traveling at 30
mph when pyrotechnic devices separated the cables and let the fuselage hit the
soil at Langleys Landing and Impact Research Facility.
The fuselage hit the ground hard, observes a NASA representative. Thirteen
NASA, FAA, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and industry collaborate on helicopter crash test
19
instrumented crash-test dummies and two
uninstrumented mannequin had a rough ride, as
did the 40 cameras mounted inside and outside the
fuselage. Preliminary observations indicate good
data collection, which will take months to analyze.
Researchers used the cameras and
onboard computers, with data from 350
instrumentation points, to record every
move of the 10,300-pound aircraft and
its contents. The helicopters unusual
black-and-white-speckled paint job,
related to a photographic technique
called full-feld photogrammetry, aided
in the data collection effort.
High-speed cameras flming at 500 images per second tracked each black dot, so
after everything is over, we can plot exactly how the fuselage reacted structurally
throughout the test, explains NASA Test Engineer Justin Littell.
This event marked the frst of two planned tests using Navy-provided CH-46E
Sea Knight fuselages. A similar helicopter equipped with additional technology,
including high-performance, lightweight, composite airframe retrofts, will be
used in a crash test next summer. Both
are part of the Rotary Wing Project in
NASAs Aeronautics Research Mission
Directorate.
NASA will use the results of both tests
to help improve rotorcraft performance
and effciency. Researchers also want to
increase industry knowledge and create
more complete computer models that
can be used to design safer helicopters.
NASA, FAA, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and industry collaborate on helicopter crash test
20
The U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) collaborated with NASA on
the crash test. For this test, Langley used six of its
own crash-test dummies. The Navy contributed the
fuselage, seats, crash-test dummies, a mannequin,
and other elements of the test. The Army provided a
mannequin
and a crash-
test dummy that simulated a patient
lying in a stretcher. The FAA provided a
side-facing specialized crash-test dummy
and part of the data-acquisition system.
Cobham Life Support-St. Petersburg,
a division of CONAX Florida Corp.,
contributed an active restraint system for
the cockpit.
21
Avionics in action
Avionics Intelligence casts a spotlight on helicopter avionics
and their adoption to increase safety and reduce accidents.
U.S. Navy looks to L-3 Communications for over-
the-horizon situational awareness
U.S. Navy helicopter avionics experts needed a digital data link to enable
helicopters to share sensor information in real time with Navy and Coast Guard
surface ships. They found their solution
from L-3 Communications-West in Salt
Lake City.
Offcials of the Naval Air Systems
Command at Patuxent River Naval Air
Station, Md., announced a $6.7 million
contract modifcation Tuesday to L-3
to provide four Common Data Link
Hawklink AN/SRQ-4 radio terminal sets
for the Navy and one for the U.S. Coast
Guard.
The AN/SRQ-4 is the shipboard element of a system that links the MH-60R
helicopter with surface warships in the area. It provides command and control
(C2), sensor data transfer, data link operation, and built-in-test.
The system provides real-time use of aircraft sensors to extend situational
awareness over the horizon by enabling surveillance helicopters to data-
link radar, video, networking, and acoustic data to Navy Arleigh Burke-class
destroyers, Ticonderoga-class cruisers, and Perry-class frigates. Its control
systems run on modern open-systems architectures, L-3 offcials say.
Avionics in action
22
The AN/SRQ-4 supports anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-ship surveillance
and targeting (ASST) missions; receives and distributes full-motion video; is IP-
enabled and built to work with future network-centric applications; is compatible
with the SAU7000 digital messaging interface; and has ruggedized construction
and modules that are qualifed to Navy shock and environmental standards.
Eurocopter selects Sandel Avionics for EC135
Helicopters Mid-Life Effciency Package
Eurocopter engineers sought quality
displays for the companys Mid-life
Effciency Package (MEP) for new
production EC135 model helicopters.
They found their solution at Sandel
Avionics Inc., a global provider of
compact, integrated display systems
technologies in Vista, Calif.
SN4500 Primary Navigation Displays and
SA4550 Primary Attitude Displays from
Sandel Avionics are listed as optional equipment on Eurocopter EC135 helicopters
in the companys Blue Book.
The Eurocopter EC135 is a popular twin-engine helicopter platform for law-
enforcement, ambulance, search-and-rescue, and frst-responder applications.
OEMs and aftermarket customers alike
continue to look to Sandel for avionics
that are proven and bring value for the
end-user, says Sandel President and CEO
Gerry Block.
Designed to ease pilot workload and make
fying safer, the Sandel SA4550 Primary
Attitude Display features LED-backlit
technology and provides pilots with ease
of use, intuitive pilot controls, single- or
Avionics in action
23
dual-cue display options, and high
visibility, even in bright sunlight
conditions.
The Sandel SN4500 Primary
Navigation Display features the same
high-visibility display technology with
added functionality and enhanced
safety via traffc and datalink weather
interfaces.
U.S. Army selects UTC Aerospace to protect helicopters from anti-aircraft
weapons using lasers
U.S. Army aviation experts needed a laser-detection system to help protect
helicopters from anti-aircraft weapons that use laser rangefnders, laser
designators, and blinding lasers. They found their solution from the UTC
Aerospace Systems ISR Systems segment in Danbury, Conn.
Offcials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.,
announced a $208.5 million multi-year contract to UTC Aerospace Monday for
Army/Navy Piloted Aircraft/Visual and Visible Light/Receiving, Passive Detecting
(AN/AVR-2B) Laser Detecting Sets (LDS).
The AN/AVR-2 LDS helicopter avionics system is a passive laser warning system
that receives, processes, and displays threat information when the helicopter is
illuminated by lasers to enable the fight crew to take evasive action.
Short-range air-defense missiles
and anti-aircraft artillery
typically use laser guidance. The
LDS displays threat information
on the AN/APR-39A(V)1 radar
detecting set indicator in the
cockpit. The system has an
interface unit comparator and
four identical sensor units.
Avionics in action
24
The helicopters that can carry the AN/AVR-2 LDS include the U.S. Marine Corps
AH-1F Cobra gunship, the Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the Army MH-
60K and EH-60A Black Hawk helicopters, the MH-47E heavy-lift helicopter, and the
OH-58D Kiowa armed reconnaissance helicopter.
The AN/AVS-2B(V) version of the LDS was derived from technology developed
for the cancelled RAH-66 Comanche program. The system is reported to be 40
percent smaller, 45 percent lighter, and to use 45 percent less power than the
previous AN/AVR-2A(V) version.
The system provides increased capability for threat detection and data interface
and has demonstrated a 500 percent improvement in reliability. The model was
introduced into service in 2004.
25
Spotlight on helicopter safety

Rotorcraft professionals are focusing a great deal of attention on tools that aid in
helicopter pilot situational awareness. Why is that the case?
An IHST analysis of accident investigations covering 523 helicopter accidents
over a three-year period identifed pilot judgment and actions as the number one
problem, involved in 84 percent of the accidents.
In some cases, pilot actions are
due to a lack of proper situational
awareness. The same analysis
specifcally identifed situational
awareness as a problem in 31
percent of the accidents.
Accidents are typically caused
by more than one specifc event.
There is not a silver bullet or
single intervention to prevent
an accident, but improving
BIO
NAME: Fred Brisbois
TITLE: Co-chair, U.S. Safety
Implementation Team
CO.: International Helicopter
Safety Team (IHST) Executive
Committee
ROLE: Global industry/government
group focused on cutting accident
rates
CONTACT: www.ihst.org
26
situational awareness is an intervention that affords an opportunity to improve
pilot decision making and reduces the probability of an improper decision that
may result in an accident.
Why are helicopter terrain avoidance systems (HTAWS) valuable?
HTAWS provide a multifarious
opportunity to prevent
accidents and save lives. The
most direct beneft is a warning
of impending collision with
terrain with suffcient time for
the pilot to correct his fight
path to avoid a collision. In
addition to terrain avoidance
warnings, some systems are
capable of providing warnings
to prevent wire strikes and
other manmade obstacles.
What is the requirement or recommendation in the U.S. for HTAWS or similar
situational awareness tools?
The installation of proximity detection systems is one of the top 20
recommendations of the U.S. International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST). In my
former position as Director of Aviation & Product Safety for Sikorsky Aircraft
Corp., we determined that the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System
(EGPWS) we developed
with Honeywell could
have prevented more
than one-third of the
accidents involving our
aircraft. The benefts
were so profound, that
we made EGPWS a
standard item on all our
S-76 and S-92 aircraft.
27
What single piece of advice would you give engineers related to selecting an HTAWS
or other helicopter avionics related to safety and situational awareness?
Keep it simple. We dont need avionics systems that provide an output for
everything that technology is capable of producing. In the end, its the human
pilot who has to recognize the output, interpret it, and respond to it.
Focus technology on providing equipment with multiple uses. For example, an
HTAWS system that can digitally store data in a buffer that is easily downloaded
can be used by operators to manage a fight data monitoring program to improve
standardization and quality assurance of fight operations. We need reliable,
lightweight, affordable systems that can predict an impending impact with terrain
or obstacles and give adequate warning to the pilot as well recording fight data.
28
Company Description
Sandel Avionics Inc., the terrain avoidance leader, engineers and
manufactures advanced avionics for rotorcraft and fxed-wing aircraft
and provides embedded software for OEM applications. Sandel Avionics
compact integrated display systems for the military and commercial
markets include 3-ATI and 4-ATI retroft primary displays, Class A & B
fxed-wing TAWS and HeliTAWSthe helicopter industrys only certifed
panel-mount HTAWS that alerts against wires, terrain and obstacles.
Located in Vista, California, Sandel is managed by an independent board
of directors, with the stated business purpose of enhancing the capabilities
of pilots and their aircraft.
www.sandel.com
LINKS:
Getting Helicopter TAWS Right
Sandel HeliTAWS Selected by Sikorsky for S-70i Black Hawk Program
Vertical Magazine Maximizing Your Awareness
Avoiding Controlled Flight into Terrain White Paper
Sandel HeliTAWS ST3453H Product page

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EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

NASA Dryden: F-18/F-15 ST3400

Sandel_MA Exec Brief Ad_B_r5.indd 1 9/13/13 1:14 PM

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