NEW REQUIREMENTS for the installation of ground-proximity warning systems (GPWS), on transport and general-aviation aircraft, have just been issued by the International Civil Aviation Organisation Council, in its fight against controlled-flight-into-terrain accidents.
Commercial transport aircraft, which were registered before July 1979, which were previously exempted from the need to fit GPWS, will now have to be fitted with them.
The new standards require that GPWS be fitted to all aircraft with maximum take-off weights of more than 5,700kt, or able to carry more than nine passengers, used in commercial and general-aviation operations worldwide, and will come into effect from 31 December, 1998. The new rules also set out minimum acceptable GPWS performance standards.
Source: Flight International