AVIATION WEEK RECOGNIZES AN IMPORTANT SAFETY INNOVATION
NTSB Member Michael Graham recently, at the Bombardier Safety Standdown, on November 12, 2024 highlighted the URGENT need for a technical solution to the RUNWAY INCURSION RISK!!! Here’s an excerpt from his presentation:
Looking at the history of RUNWAY INCURSIONS, Graham noted that audience members might look at statistics and see a steady state with no recent fatalities domestically. “That doesn’t mean that the potential is not there,” he cautioned.
Recent data shows an uptick in runway incursions, particularly in Alpha and Bravo airports. “We actually have 11 incursions that we’re investigating right now,” Graham said.
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“For 24 years now, since 2000, there are two things we’ve been asking for: SURFACE DETECTION EQUIPMENT in the towers and DETECTION EQUIPMENT IN THE COCKPIT that will visually and orally alert flight crews of traffic on the runway or taxiway, approaching to land, or taking off,” Graham said. “I am aware there is one avionics manufacturer that has this technology. It’s all using ADS-B data, and there’s another one who has most of the avionics in the larger airliners that is very close to completing this technology for the cockpit…and we’ve gotta retrofit it” for aircraft in fleets that fly for decades.”
Someone was listening; for on November 20,2024 Aviation Week announced (see below) that it was awarding its top technical recognition, the Laureate Award in the Business Aviation, to Garmin’s Runway Occupancy Awareness (ROA) technology.
The Kansas high technology company explained in some detail what are the components of the ROA and the systems appear to meet Member Graham’s call for an immediate solution for runway incursion threats.
In particular the Garmin statement makes it clear that ROA is the FAA’s FIRST CERTIFICATED instrument that may be installed in cockpits. The company lists the following aircraft as authorized to include it– G1000® NXi-equipped Cessna Caravan, G5000® STC covering the Cessna Citation Excel, XLS, XLS+ and XLS Gen2.
Member Graham’s plea included a request of Congress or more immediately the FAA to mandate installation, as he said, “WE’VE GOTTA RETROFIT IT” FOR ALL COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT. This Journal, in response to a similar announcement by Honeywell of the availability of SURF-AIR, urged the FAA Administrator {to} FIX NOW a High-Profile SAFETY risk. The OEM indicated that it expected that certification of its unit would take 12-18 months. It was suggested in the linked post that, as an unmandated safety addition, the FAA might use its precedential policy, NON-REQUIRED EQUIPMENT THAT CAN ENHANCE SAFETY (NORSEE),
In any event, it is appropriate to pause a moment and CELEBRATE these aviation safety advances.
Garmin’s revolutionary Runway Occupancy Awareness technology honored with prestigious Laureate Award
PR Newswire
OLATHE, Kan., Nov. 20, 2024
For 67 years, Aviation Week Network’s annual Laureate Awards have recognized extraordinary innovations and achievements in the aviation industry
OLATHE, Kan., Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Garmin (NYSE: GRMN) today announced that its Runway Occupancy Awareness (ROA) technology received a Laureate Award in the Business Aviation category from Aviation Week Network.
Utilizing the Surface Indications and Alert (SURF-IA) technology and ADS-B traffic monitoring, ROA is the FIRST CERTIFIED solution designed to help pilots NAVIGATE COMPLEX AIRPORTS and AVOID POTENTIAL RUNWAY INCURSIONS caused by nearby airborne aircraft, aircraft on the ground and ground vehicles. This year’s Laureate Awards Ceremony will take place on March 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
“We are honored to be recognized by Aviation Week Network with this prestigious Laureate Award for Runway Occupancy Awareness. Garmin’s commitment to innovation and safety is the driving force to continually create revolutionary technologies like ROA that can reduce the risk of runway incursions and help provide confidence for pilots navigating busy and complex airports.” –Carl Wolf, Garmin Vice President Aviation Sales, Marketing & Programs
ROA technology analyzes aircraft GPS and ADS-B traffic information relevant to the airport’s runways and taxiways to assess and alert the crew of a possible runway incursion or collision. ROA provides visual crew-alerting system (CAS) caution and warning annunciations on the pilot’s primary flight display (PFD) and highlights the runway yellow or red, depending on the level of threat, using Garmin’s Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT™). It also provides similar caution and warning annunciations on the SafeTaxi® map displayed simultaneously on the multifunction window.
Both visual and aural alerts are provided to the flight crew based on the potential hazard, ranging from no immediate collision hazard to a warning level alert where a collision risk could occur within 15 seconds. Indications and alerts to the flight crew include: any traffic landing, taking off, stopped, or taxiing on the aircraft’s runway; traffic on approach to the aircraft’s runway or runway that crosses the aircraft’s runway; as well as any traffic on the runway at which the aircraft is holding.
The initial FAA certification was received by Textron Aviation on the G1000® NXi-equipped Cessna Caravan, followed by Garmin’s certification for ROA in their G5000® STC covering the Cessna Citation Excel, XLS, XLS+ and XLS Gen2. ROA is initially available on select Garmin Integrated Flight Decks ranging from G1000 NXi to G5000 equipped aircraft serving the broad general and business aviation markets. To learn more about Garmin’s award-winning ROA technology, visit Garmin.com/Aviation.
…Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate. Recipient of the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy for Garmin Autoland, Garmin developed the world’s first certified autonomous system that activates during an emergency to control and land an aircraft without human intervention..
