PARIS—Honeywell has completed the development of Surf-A, a new cockpit alerting system for runway incursions awareness, and expects certification by the end of this year.
The solution relies on hardware that most in-service aircraft already have on board—the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system—and could mark progress in preventing runway collisions.
Existing systems alert air traffic controllers, who then relay the warning to crews in approach. Honeywell's idea is to warn pilots directly. In January 2024, a fatal collision took place between a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 and a Japan Coast Guard De Havilland Canada Dash 8 on Runway 34R at Tokyo's Haneda airport, killing five people.
"Serious runway incidents and accidents have increased threefold over the last six years," said Bob Buddecke, Honeywell Aerospace's president of electronic solutions, during a press briefing held in Paris on June 15 on the eve of the Paris Air Show. The Surf-A system has been in the making for several years, but recent exchanges with customers and regulators led the company to expedite the last steps of development and certification work.
Trials involving a Surf-A-equipped Boeing 757 on approach and a Falcon 900 business jet on the runway finished demonstrating a 30-second notice for the 757 crew. Surf-A collects ADS-B signal and, thanks to a link with the EGPWS and accompanying analytics, the crew receives visual and aural alerts, Buddecke said. Design engineers made sure pilots perceive the alerts in a busy flight phase. If the aircraft's flight deck is equipped with a moving map, the crew can locate the obstruction, Buddecke added.
Surf-A not only warns against stationary ADS-B-equipped vehicles but also predicts incursions of moving aircraft. It finds its roots in the EU's SESAR research and technology program for improved air traffic management.
Having Surf-A on board is complementary to ground-based tools and is intended to protect aircraft against runway collisions faster, Buddecke said. "Thousands of aircraft could be equipped for a fraction of the cost of installing equivalent infrastructure," he said.
With the EGPWS Mk-VA version, the retrofit consists of a software update and a minor hardware change. Honeywell has planned to receive FAA certification for the first application, the 757, by year-end, with more retrofit approvals following next year. The company is also working on forward-fit with airframers.
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