TCAS for Grand Canyon Tours

Honeywell's Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) has been selected for the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters fleet, making the tour operator the first at the scenic park to use a TCAS safety system. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

"Honeywell's TCAS gives the flight crew the broadest area of traffic awareness in order to give the crew the most time to avoid mid-air conflicts," said Doug Kult, Sales Director for Honeywell Helicopter and Surface Systems.

Elling Halvorson, Chairman, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, said, "The initial systems will be installed on our EC130 fleet of 12 helicopters. Our remaining aircraft will be fitted shortly thereafter with Honeywell's outstanding traffic system."

Papillion's certified installation for its fleet of Eurocoper EC130 aircraft uses two directional antennas, one mounted on the top and one on the bottom of the helicopter, giving the crew maximum surveillance capability.

The  avionics maker said with one helicopter crash for every 1,000 hours of flight, TCAS-equipped aircraft give passengers and crew a safety margin that non TCAS aircraft can't match.