Professional Pilot, February 2019

PROFESSIONAL PILOT February 2019 55 followed by Bombardier with Transport Canada and Dassault jointly with FAA and the Joint Aviation Authorities JAA EFVS is established as a means to comply with the published minimums regardless of the reported natural visibility ICAO also has published revisions to Annex 6 for Aircraft Operations and for the Manual of All Weather Operations DOC 9365 which provides a great deal of internationally accepted standards for EFVS operations training and related procedures In Europe the differences regarding EFVS are related to some specific areas of flightdeck equipment and in the regulatory framework on how EFVS is established to permit you to approach and land legally even when the naked eye cannot see The process for approvals however is a source of confusion Copilot monitor The main difference that regarding equipment has to do with the copilot monitor Here the ability for the copilot to see the EFVS image is a requirement for EASA The EFVS monitor requirement by EASA is for aircraft that have a single Head Up Display HUD for the pilot but no means for the copilot to observe the EFVS functioning By European regulations the copilot is supposed to have access to the same information on the flightdeck as the pilot A single HUD installation and no other video display will not provide the required access Most all new aircraft have multiple means to display the EFVS sensor image on the main displays but for the aftermarket EFVS programs small monitors have been added to meet this requirement For the US and other operating regions there is no requirement for an EFVS copilot monitor but in practice most all cockpits with EFVS have it Equipment credit Another difference is the basis for the approval which is characterized as an equipment credit as compared to a means of compliance with visual segment of the approach In the development of the early JAA approval for EFVS in 2008 the equipment credit could be translated to a table of reduced minima The original JAA rule EU Subpart E 143 now SPA LVO 100 Special Approval Low Visibility Operations shows the value of the credit The EFVS equipage credit then provides relief from the approach ban limit dictated by the standard minima of 1800 ft RVR This would mean you could begin the approach From the piloting part the operation of the EFVS is the same as with the FAA Transport Canada and other organizations if you see the visual references you can continue to 100 ft visual transition to natural vision By comparison the FAA established the first EFVS regulations in 2004 and the operational credit is based on the operation The operation of EFVS is to enable the pilot to comply with the visual segment at the published minimums In other words the pilot must see the runway the approach light systems and other specified legal visual references If the visual references are not present at minimums or disappear at any time then a go around is required The FAA has introduced a number of official terms and EFVS Operations is now in the books The FAA later followed up with changes and updates in 2016 the most recent being the ability to approach and land with EFVS Significant in the new regulations for Part 135 operators is the ability to dispatch with weather below published minimums The FAA regulations are performance based meaning the operational limit is a function of the EFVS sensors operation in weather This performance is defined as how well the EFVS sensor works better known as visual advantage Many consider the FAA approach as future proof because it has no written limits it comes from how the equipment is certified and how the FAA defines its limits HUDs and PFDs with CVS evaluated by NASA Langley Research Center In the near future flightdecks will host dual HUD configurations EFVS and advanced sensors integrated with SVS displayed head up and head down