MAGAZINE STORY: Our client Viraf Kapadia, Chairman and CEO of Star Navigation Systems Group Inc discussed the In Flight Safety Monitoring System (ISMS) and air safety.
Star Navigation awarded STC for inflight monitoring system
Mary Kirby, Washington DC (01Jul04, 18:03 GMT, 285 words)
Canada’s Star Navigation Systems has received supplemental type certification (STC) from Transport Canada to fully activate its in-flight safety monitoring system (ISMS) on an Air Sahara Boeing 737-700.
Toronto-based Star Navigation Systems bills the ISMS as the first product of its kind providing real-time flight analysis from cockpit to ground for the duration of a flight.
Information from more than 256 parameters including air pressure, altitude and speed are continually relayed to a ground station automatically. If any of the tolerance levels are exceeded, ground staff are notified to allow a quick response.
In late December, India’s Air Sahara agreed to trial the system on a single 737-700. Last month, STAR Navigation Systems installed and tested the ISMS on the 737. The STC granted by Transport Canada enables Star Navigation Systems to fully activate the system.
Once activated, real-time live data will be relayed to Star Navigation Systems’ ground control center located in Toronto, and will be available to Air Sahara personnel in India.
If the trial proves successful, Air Sahara – which operates a mix of 737s and Bombardier CRJ200s – plans to install the equipment on 15 aircraft in the carrier’s fleet.
“The certification of the new configuration upload, via satcom, signifies an evolution of our system. We are now able to open a virtual window into the operations of an aircraft during a regularly scheduled flight involving real scenarios,” says Star Navigation Systems president and technical director Hilary Vieira.
She adds that the company is confident the ISMS will become a necessary component in the management of aircraft “and further advance cost-saving initiatives”.
Star Navigation already holds US FAA and Transport Canada supplemental type certification to install the ISMS on Boeing 727 aircraft.