‘India conducts Asia’s first demo of performance-based nav for copters’
NEW DELHI: India conducted Asia’s first demonstration of performance-based navigation for helicopters for a flight from Juhu in Mumbai to Pune using GAGAN satellite technology, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday.
GAGAN — GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation — is a state-of-the-art space-based augmentation system which adds more accuracy to output of GPS navigation system by providing local geographical positioning for better accuracy of location of aircraft for more efficient traffic management. The technology was jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Scindia said it is a fine example of the “Indian aviation sector blazing a trail in innovation!” He added, “India conducts Asia’s first demonstration for Performance-Based Navigation for helicopters. The flight from Juhu to Pune made use of the #GAGAN satellite technology that enhances accuracy, allowing for high quality air traffic management. Congratulations @AAI_Official.” The satellite technology helps aircraft/ helicopters with guided landing at airports that do not have instrument landing systems for lowvisibility operations.
All registered aircraft in India will have to comply with GAGAN — which was introduced in 2019 — by December 2025. Experts termed the development “a big leap” for Indian aviation sector. “This will enhance better traffic management of both aircraft and helicopters in Indian air space,”said former defence pilot and aviation expert Vipul Saxena.