Garmin is excited to announce a new, streamlined process for Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (HTAWS) installation approval. As a result of new policy issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), helicopter owners and operators now have easier access to install Garmin HTAWS.
The FAA recently released new policy material AFS-300 Job Aid “Major Repair and Alteration Data Approval”. This policy, which can be found in the “AFS 360 Technical Papers” section, allows qualified HTAWS solutions to be field approved without requiring Aircraft Certification Office (ACO) participation. Both GNS 430W/530W series as well as the GTN 650/750 series of touchscreen navigators are qualified and meet the new policy for expedited approval. Thanks to the FAA’s policy change, this new, simple path provides owners and operators a clear understanding of the steps required for the approval which means more control over your installation schedule, less downtime, and lower overall cost. Additionally, this new, streamlined approach also allows the local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) the authority to approve the required Flight Manual Supplements for HTAWS, which further reduces the time required to complete these installations. This new policy will help expedite the installation of the HTAWS required by all Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) operators by April 24, 2017, as well as other operators who will benefit from this safety enhancing technology.
HTAWS provides visual and aural “forward-looking” terrain and obstacle avoidance (FLTA) alerts that are fully contained in the GTN 650/750 navigators and GNS 430W/530W series of navigators. Offering Reduced Protection (RP) mode, Garmin HTAWS works to minimize nuisance alerts during low altitude helicopter operations, while continuing to provide protection from terrain and obstacles. In addition to terrain and obstacle alerting, HTAWS features voice callouts, which audibly announce height above terrain when descending below 500 feet in 100-foot intervals. With the addition of the GRATM 55 radar altimeter, soon required equipment for all Part 135 operators, audible HTAWS call-outs are provided to 50 feet. Garmin WireAwareTM wire-strike avoidance technology for the GTN 650/750, when combined with HTAWS provides alerts to help make seemingly invisible power lines easier to identify. Garmin GTN and GNS WAAS HTAWS solutions are self-contained, providing helicopter operators with optimal situational awareness in a single avionics solution.
Operators who invest in a new GTN 650/750 series navigator as part of their HTAWS solution will benefit from the many features these GPS/NAV/COMM products have to offer and thousands of helicopter owners and operators with existing GNS WAAS and GTN installations may conveniently add HTAWS with a simple software update and the addition of a few annunciators. This policy change gives many helicopter operators an easy path to install the safety-enhancing HTAWS capabilities by offering schedule certainty, minimal downtime, and a lower cost approval process. For additional information regarding HTAWS and Garmin’s comprehensive line of helicopter solutions, visit: garmin.com/helicopters.
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