Making Aviation Safer Through Enhanced Flight Vision Systems: An Aerospace Innovations Roundtable
Enhanced flight vision systems (EFVS) use infrared sensors installed on aircraft noses to create an infrared image of what’s ahead outside, no matter what the weather and/or lighting environment. The EFVS images are then typically provided to the pilot using a wearable or cockpit-mounted display.
By doing this, EFVS has made human flight far safer. Yet the state of this technology is not set in stone. EFVS manufacturers such as AerSale and Universal Avionics are constantly innovating to make this technology more detailed, capable, and useful to pilots of all kinds
Iso Nezaj is AerSale’s Chief Product Development Officer. Dror Yahav is Chief Executive Officer of Universal Avionics. The two companies have banded together to create the AerAware EFVS, which relies on Universal Avionics’ ClearVision EFVS camera system.
In this Aerospace Innovations virtual roundtable, Nezaj and Yahav tell us where EFVS stands today, what it is currently providing to the aviation industry, and what is coming tomorrow.
(Image: Universal Avionics)
(Image: brentbundy.com/AerSale)
Aerospace Innovations (AI): What is the history of your company’s work in EFVS, and how did your products come about?
Iso Nezaj: At AerSale Inc., we specialise in developing Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) to address various technical challenges and regulatory requirements faced by aircraft operators. Our primary focus is to provide innovative solutions that enhance safety, performance and operating economics. Among our diverse range of products, AerAware, our dual Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS), stands out as a significant advancement in aviation technology.
Recognizing the need for better situational awareness during low-visibility conditions and improving energy management during all phases of flight, we partnered with Universal Avionics, an Elbit Systems company, and leveraged advanced technologies to create a state-of-the-art EFVS called ClearVision. This collaboration resulted in AerAware, the first-ever dual, head wearable display certified by the FAA for commercial operations while also achieving an industry leading 50% visual advantage — the highest certified by the FAA.
Dror Yahav: The ClearVision Enhanced Flight Vision System from Universal Avionics is a complete gate-to-gate visibility solution and the first wearable EFVS certified for the commercial aviation market. This innovative technology is inspired by EFVS technologies originally used in military operations, backed by generations of expertise from our parent company Elbit Systems Ltd., who has been developing enhanced vision systems since early 2000s when the FAA approved of operations.
The system is currently certified for the Boeing 737 under the AerAware brand, and will soon be available for King Air B200 and several other business jets. ClearVision supports the general aviation market by enhancing safety, operational effectiveness, supporting sustainability initiatives, and advancing future-forward markets such as Advanced Air Mobility and supersonic flight.
AI: What are the chief features and benefits that your products bring to pilots and non-military aircraft operators?
Dror Yahav: ClearVision brings advances in safety, efficiency, and sustainability by combining enhanced visual imagery and primary flight display symbology into a single view, shared between operators.
This enhanced situational awareness has the highest visual advantage of any commercial aircraft EFVS on the market, providing dispatch and landing approach priority regardless of the destination airport’s infrastructure. By mitigating traffic delays and allowing for alternate runways or approaches, seasonal weather-related disruptions, such as delays, diversions, and cancellations, are minimised. The result is continued operations and reduced costs, thanks to more efficient routing and lower fuel consumption.
Iso Nezaj: First, there’s safety. Our EFVS provides pilots with the ability to control the aircraft’s flight path and energy more precisely while remaining “heads-up” during approach and landing.
Next is improved energy management. This results in a more stabilised approach that minimises short/long landings, as well as a reduced risk of ground incidents such as hard landings, tail skid strikes, and runway incursions/excursions.
Third is enhanced situational awareness. Our EFVS delivers real-time visual information in poor visibility conditions, improving decision-making and reducing the risk of accidents. Additionally, a dual system enables pilots to benefit from a shared mental model.
Then there’s operational efficiency. Our EFVS reduces delays and diversions by allowing continued operations in adverse weather conditions. It enables pilots to continue an approach below published Decision Altitudes and Decision Heights, through touchdown and rollout on EFVS images alone.
Dror Yahav, Chief Executive Officer of Universal Avionics
Iso Nezaj, AerSale’s Chief Product Development Officer
AI: What are the components of an EFVS, and how is it installed and used in a modern aircraft?
Dror Yahav: EFVS is typically comprised of three primary components: An Enhanced Vision System (EVS) camera fastened to the radome of the aircraft, a computer typically installed in the avionics bay, and a Head-Up display in the cockpit used by the pilot to access the enhanced imagery.
ClearVision uses the EVS-5000 multispectral camera that combines visible light and longwave infrared sensors to capture a comprehensive view outside the cockpit in low-visibility conditions. This information is combined with relevant EFVS symbology by the HUD computer, which is sent to the SkyLens head-wearable display (HWD) or SkyVis helmet-mounted display (HMD).
ClearVision is unique for being the first certified commercial solution that uses a HUD worn by the pilot, rather than fixed in the cockpit. Pilots wearing SkyLens can take advantage of both real-world EVS imagery, panoramic synthetic vision, and symbology in a 360-degree field of view for additional situational awareness during any phase of flight, stowing the HWD in a compartment when not in use.
AI: What are the stand-out features of the AerAware/ClearVision EFVS?
Iso Nezaj: First, the EFVS-5000 camera includes a comprehensive network of four internal cameras as well as six sensors resulting in one perfectly fused picture, which enables pilots to overcome limited visibility conditions day and night. From visible light to longwave infrared (IR) this system captures multispectral imagery that goes beyond the limitations of the human eye. It reveals crucial details in low-visibility situations, ensuring pilots have a comprehensive view of the outside world.
Next comes Synthetic Vision image processing. It provides a computer-generated representation of the external environment, enhancing situational awareness by displaying virtual views of terrain, obstacles, runways, and other relevant features.
Then there’s the Skylens Head Wearable Display (HWD). It offers the user a vast, immersive display that projects a complete view of the aircraft’s primary systems data alongside 3D synthetic vision. Yet this lightweight device provides superior see-through transmission in all weather conditions with unlimited field of view.
The HUD Computer Unit enhances and processes images from the EFVS camera and synthetic vision system for better clarity and usability. The Control Panel allows the pilot to interact with and adjust the system settings as required.
Worth noting: The streamlined EFVS installation process involves integrating these components into the aircraft’s system, typically during scheduled maintenance. The post-production modification and installation requires 3 to 5 days and can be accomplished anywhere in the world with the support of our certified engineers.
AI: Let’s get specific. How precisely does EFVS make flying safer?
Dror Yahav: Visibility through the windshield of an aircraft is quite limited, posing additional challenges in inclement weather and night operations, which decreases this visibility even further. In contrast, ClearVision provides complete situational awareness during all phases of flight, enabling pilots to see in low visibility situations.
Iso Nezaj: Our EFVS provides pilots with a 50% visual advantage over the naked eye, offering clear visuals of the runway environment, obstacles, and terrain in limited visibility conditions such as fog, rain, or darkness. This increased situational awareness helps pilots make informed decisions, avoid potential hazards, and ensure safer takeoff and landing operations.
Dror Yahav: As well, operators can stay one step ahead of the aircraft using real-time enhanced vision to prevent incursions during taxi operations with visibility of taxiways and ground operations. ClearVision also brings major safety improvements for helicopters, as the first time that civil helicopter pilots can leverage a helmet-mounted device for full awareness of terrain and obstacles, including cranes and antennas, while keeping focused on the external world during high-workload tasks.
AI: In general, what advances are being made in EFVS, and what will this mean to their users?
Iso Nezaj: Advances in EFVS include improvements in sensor technology, image processing algorithms, and integration with other aircraft systems. These advances result in higher resolution images, faster processing speeds, and more reliable performance. For users, this means greater situational awareness, enhanced safety, and the ability to operate in a wider range of weather conditions.
We are continuously innovating and have several enhancements to our EFVS product in the pipeline. One of the benefits of the AerAware system being predominantly software is that we can continue to expand the capabilities of the system without replacing the hardware. These upcoming software enhancements will feature advanced imaging technologies, enhanced integration capabilities, and improved user interfaces, further pushing the boundaries of safety and efficiency in aviation.
Dror Yahav: An increasing number of airports are updating their lighting systems from incandescent to LED, meaning some EFVS camera systems lack the ability to properly detect runway lights. ClearVision’s advanced multispectral camera detects these LED runway lights, assisting pilots during takeoff and landing. By adding new operational capabilities in a regulatory setting for approaches and landing, operators can land in lower prescribed minimums.
The ergonomic, wearable design of the SkyLens display benefits new applications by providing an unlimited field of view, which gives pilots the flexibility to turn their head and operate with panoramic synthetic vision (SVS) in addition to the symbology seen in a traditional HUD. Future innovations to SkyLens will include colour imagery for even more accurate visual information compared to the traditional green imagery.
AI: Will EFVS eventually become available to users of smaller aircraft, including private pilots?
Dror Yahav: Yes. One key benefit of ClearVision’s head-wearable display is that it has a much smaller footprint in the cockpit compared to a fixed Head-Up display. Where a smaller aircraft might be limited by the size of a traditional HUD modification, ClearVision has the opportunity to make this innovative technology more widely available thanks to its smaller size and flexibility.
AI: What role can EFVS play in the operations of autonomous and uncrewed aircraft, including drones?
Dror Yahav: EFVS is a key element in the future of autonomous vehicles, especially for those with visibility challenges, such as advanced air mobility in urban airspace and supersonic jets travelling at high speeds with virtually no natural vision from the cockpit. Image-based navigation provides the visual data needed for uncrewed aircraft operations. In emergency situations, a SkyLens HWD can be used to remotely pilot the aircraft, with the real-time information needed to operate safely and proactively make decisions, without putting lives at risk.
AI: Finally, what new EFVS products are coming to market soon?
Dror Yahav: Universal Avionics’ Aperture is the next step in bringing more connectivity and Artificial Intelligence capabilities to the cockpit. Aperture can process multiple video input sources and support four video outputs with zero latency. This means pilots and operators have shared information from even more visual camera and sensor sources, enhanced by content analysis and augmented reality in real time. This increases safety and improves decision-making for flight crews and mission specialists.
