EASA has approved Dassault’s Falcon 6X for enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) operations based on the manufacturer’s FalconEye head-up display (HUD) technology. The FalconEye combined vision system was developed to improve situational awareness for pilots making lower-altitude approaches in all weather conditions, day or night, making runway obstacles visible through fog and mist.
The European air safety regulator added the amendment to the large-cabin jet’s type certificate on September 3, allowing operations down to 100 feet above the threshold on Cat 1 approaches using localizer performance with vertical guidance and barometric vertical navigation. Nonprecision continuous descent final approach techniques are also now permitted.
Initially, the EFVS approval covers a single HUD configuration. In the near future, Dassault said it aims to achieve authorization for a dual HUD setup in which both pilots benefit from the same synthetic vision inputs based on a combination of terrain and infrastructure information from a database, and infrared and low-light camera imagery.
Meanwhile, on September 5, Swiss private aviation group Albinati Aeronautics flew the first Falcon 6X into Cannes Mandelieu Airport (LFMD) in the south of France. The operator has worked with Dassault and local authorities to get approval for movements, taking into account the airport’s 5,282-foot runway, geography, and noise restrictions.