Helikopter - Curved Approaches

Monday, August 26, 2013

Government-Industry Program Works on Curved Rotorcraft Procedures

The European Commission is overseeing a joint government-industry program aimed at developing new curved Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) procedures for helicopters using satellite-based augmentation systems (GNSS-SBAS).

French consulting and engineering group Egis is leading a consortium consisting of Pildo Labs, CGX Aero and DSNA on the two-year Curved Applications for Rotorcraft Environmental (CARE) enhancement project. The CARE group's goal in designing and implementing the new IFR procedures is to improve rotorcraft navigation and enable helicopters to avoid "noise sensitive urban areas," according to a statement from Egis. 

After defining the criteria for these satellite-based procedures, the CARE group will identify benefits and begin to promote the new procedures to airports and helicopter operators