Eliminating visibility problems from low visibility operations

Weather and in particular visual limitations have plagued aviation ever since the Wright Brothers quit flying circles around Huffman Field and tried to go cross-country. Lindbergh famously said “aviation would never amount to much until we learned to free ourselves from the mists.” The paper describes technology that uses enhanced vision to overcome the normal visual limitations. Vision systems, called Enhanced Flight Vision Systems, provide a potential solution to a lack of visual references. The paper describes the global certification basis for Enhanced Flight Vision Systems and how those systems can be used to eliminate visibility problems from low visibility operations. It describes a history of enhanced vision sensors and their usefulness for aircraft operations. The paper details the regulatory history behind Enhanced Flight Vision Systems and the novel way in which the regulatory basis was used to certify these systems. Harmonization of EASA, FAA, RTCA and Eurocae standards will be discussed. The future of Enhanced Flight Vision Systems for use in business jet, cargo and airline operations will be described in detail.