Aurigny one step closer to landing in fog

Friday 22 June 2018

A prototype ATR with brand new technology in its nose, which allows it to land in fog, was in the island yesterday, and Aurigny pilots test drove the aircraft from Guernsey Airport.

The ATR 72 600 could potentially seat 78 passengers and is the first of its kind with a built in ClearVision system allowing the pilots to see the runway via a headset, through enhanced vision cameras in the nose.

The ATR aircraft and staff from ATR were in the island to carry out the test flights on the runway and had landed the previous evening during poor visibility. A spokesperson said they had visibility of the runway through the headset around a minute before the naked eye through the cockpit window.

Following test flights with the aircraft and talks with ATR, Aurigny are currently putting together a business case which will go before the States in the hope that they will be able to purchase a similar aircraft in the near future. It is hoped that some progress will be made on this by the end of the year as the technology could potentially save both the airline and future passengers inconvenience, delays and cancellations and the resulting expense incurred when the island is affected by fog.

The technology works in a similar way to night vision with the ClearVision cameras installed in the nose of the aircraft giving the pilot a view of the runway through a headset they wear on landing.

Pictured: Eric De Le Salle, test pilot for ATR wearing the headset with ATR behind and inset how the pilot will see the runway in the fog through headset.

Pictured: Nose of ATR with special cameras.

Nigel Moll, Aurigny Flight Operations Director said: "For us it is going to be a complete game changer, the technology of the enhanced vision system on this aeroplane means that probably out of 60 days a year where fog affects our operation for at least half of those days we expect to be landing; when with the current aircraft we couldn't."

"It's going to make a very big difference to our passengers, it's going to make a big difference saving money, by not having aircraft diverting, people overnight in hotels. It really is going to be quite an evolution for Aurigny's operation if we can replace our fleet with these aircraft."

WATCH: See full interview with Nigel Moll, Aurigny flight operations director.

Eric De La Salle, Test Pilot for ATR, said that they were currently using Guernsey Airport to test the ATR and had landed in the fog on Wednesday evening. He explained how the technology had been made in a versatile way so aircraft could reach areas that had challenges, whether that be fog, darkness, heavy rain or heavy snow.

WATCH: See full interview with Eric De La Salle, test pilot for ATR.

Aurigny spent the day in talks with ATR about the new plane with the innovative solution for low visibility operations installed and will use findings from this visit to include in the business case for the States.

The main benefit for airlines is that it sets them apart from their competitors as this is the first commercial technology which is fitted into aircraft rather than relying on airports themselves to invest in similar infrastructure to assist flights landing.