[Avionics Magazine 12-14-2016] The FAA has issued a final rule for the use of Enhanced Flight Vision Systems (EFVS) when landing an aircraft. According to the final rule, pilots flying Parts 121, 125 or 135 certificated aircraft are permitted to use an EFVS in lieu of natural vision to continue descending from 100 feet above the Touchdown Zone Elevation (TDZE) to the runway and to land on certain straight-in IAPs under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).
Rockwell Collins’ Head-up Guidance System (HUGS) with synthetic and multispectral enhanced vision for the Embraer Legacy 450 and 500. Photo: Rockwell Collins.
In summarizing the final rule on EFVS, the FAA stated that it will also address “provisions that permit operators who conduct EFVS operations under parts 121, 125, or 135 to use EFVS-equipped aircraft to dispatch, release, or takeoff under IFR, and revises the regulations for those operators to initiate and continue an approach, when the destination airport weather is below authorized visibility minimums for the runway of intended landing.”
Operators looking to use EFVS technology for the newly authorized landing procedures are subject to “additional airworthiness requirements” that the FAA did not specify within its summary of the new rule.
The new rule will become effective March 13, 2017, with the exception of several amendments to the rule that are scheduled to become effective the following year.