Aircraft

L-3 subsidiary ACSS plans to develop a new runway incursion prevention tool that uses a class 2 electronic flight bag and electronic airport map next year, pending publication of a new advisory circular by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Cyro Stone, ACSS team leader for SafeRoute, says the new system will be a derivative of the company's more comprehensive SafeRoute, which launch customer UPS plans to begin using at its Louisville hub in August.

SafeRoute applications, which run on a Boeing-supplied Astronautics Class 3 electronic flight bag, include display of own-ship position, location of other aircraft and other features, allowing for UPS pilots to perform self-spacing during landing, take-off and ground operations.

Stone says ACSS had been a key player earlier this year in working with the FAA to develop an advisory circular for a class 2 EFB that could display own-ship position - a function until then largely reserved for the more expensive class 3 systems - and the location of other traffic on the ground.

The FAA in March published an advisory circular for own-ship position only, a move that surprised ACSS. "The FAA officials we were dealing with all agreed with [having both functions]," he told Flight International, flightglobal.com's sister publication. Stone says the FAA is now working on an advisory circular that will cover both options for the class 2.

ACSS is not discussing a target price for the new system, but said the applications would work with a variety of EFBs, the choice of which could determine to a large extent the ultimate installed cost.