Weather and Turbulence Among Top Concerns for Pilots

Honeywell and Civil Aviation Resource Net have conducted a pilot survey focusing on Chinese-licensed pilots.

The survey polled civil pilots and commercial flight crews on flight operations and the key challenges and requirements they face through all phases of flight to understand their prime concerns in their current operational environment.

The survey collected firsthand flying experiences and data from more than 3,000 pilots and cockpit crew members, of whom 53% were first officers and 36% were line captains. Nearly 80% surveyed fly Airbus or Boeing aircraft, and more than one-third surveyed have more than 5,000 flying hours.

“This is the first time Honeywell has partnered with China’s top aviation media outlets to conduct a pilot survey that specifically focuses on the Asia Pacific region and China,” said Brian Davis, vice president, Airlines, Asia Pacific at Honeywell Aerospace. “Pilots shared one of their biggest concerns and needs is advanced weather alert systems that provide early warning and location of a storm and its path. The use of the latest cockpit technologies such as the IntuVue 3-D weather radar can help pilots fly safer with better situational awareness.”

Weather Challenges During Departure, Cruise and Landing

It is no surprise that weather issues are among the top concerns for almost all pilots during all phases of flight, including departure, cruise and landing.

- For 49% of pilots surveyed, weather hazard and wind shear are the biggest challenges for safe operation during departure, takeoff and flight.

- More than half (53%) surveyed said identifying hazardous, turbulent weather is the biggest concern in cruise flight.

- During landing, 65% of respondents consider hazardous weather identification as the biggest challenge.

The use of weather radar can efficiently reduce the risk of weather issues and related delays. In this survey, 60% surveyed selected predictive weather alerts for lightning, hail and long-range turbulence as the most important feature of a weather radar, followed by automatic in-route weather notifications when weather radar is deactivated and continuous 3-D weather scanning and depiction.

Fly Safer With Better View and Awareness

Honeywell Aerospace creates some of the most cutting-edge products and technologies addressing the biggest concerns pilots face in weather detection and precision approaches.

For helping pilots make the right decisions faster in all flight phases, Honeywell’s IntuVue RDR-4000 3-D Weather Radar provides pilots with real-time and accurate weather information. As the only automatic radar system, IntuVue produces a 3-D, 180-degree image of weather from the ground up to 60,000 feet and up to 320 nautical miles (nm) ahead of the aircraft. IntuVue can even predict what storms have hail and lightning five to ten minutes before the lightning occurs with 93% accuracy, which addresses the concerns of 60% of those surveyed. IntuVue also provides the industry’s longest turbulence detection, out to 60nm, to reduce turbulence-related incidents by more than 45%. This makes a great solution for over half (53%) of the respondents who find hazardous and turbulent weather identification the biggest challenge during flight.

Honeywell’s enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) serves as an independent monitor of an aircraft's position relative to surrounding terrain, providing airplanes with worldwide protection against controlled flight into terrain, wind shear and optional runway incursions and overruns. Its software upgrades, Honeywell’s SmartRunway and SmartLanding products, can increase flight safety by improving situational awareness for pilots and crew members during approach, landing, taxi and take-off.

“The aviation industry has made a continuous effort to improve flight safety all these years. It is critical for us to understand end users’ top needs and to help them address their concerns with the right solutions,” said Davis. “With our long history and long-term commitment in the Asia Pacific region’s aviation industry, Honeywell values the collaboration with domestic enterprises in the aviation industry and looks forward to working with other companies in the field for building a booming aviation industry in Asia Pacific together.”

See other recent news regarding: Aviation, Honeywell