FAA UNEASY ABOUT NON-STC’D SMOKE SAFETY DEVICES
by Stephen Pope
In a bulletin issued by the FAA’s flight standards office in Washington, the agency is taking issue with pilots’ use of non-approved portable smoke safety devices in the cockpit, namely VisionSafe’s $11,000 Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS).
In the bulletin, titled “Portable Equipment and Carry-On Devices Intended for Flight Deck Use,” the agency said non-STC’d smoke safety devices pose “an unacceptable hazard to maintaining safe control” of an aircraft, and pointed to EVAS as potentially presenting “significant safety hazards” if not properly evaluated to meet emergency procedures and training requirements.
What this means is that EVAS in FAR Part 135 and 121 aircraft must now be STC’d and crews must be trained in the proper use of the equipment. The problem, as the FAA sees it, is that EVAS has been placed in a number of business aircraft cockpits via FAA Form 337 because STCs do not exist.
As a result of the bulletin, VisionSafe plans to develop STCs and training programs for those models in which EVAS is installed, said a spokesman. He added that all EVAS equipment sold in the future will be STC’d, even in Part 91 aircraft, and that approved training courses through FlightSafety are coming soon.
According to VisionSafe, STCs for EVAS are currently available in the Hawker 800, 800XP and 1000; Boeing 737; Cessna Citation V Ultra, VII and X; and Dassault Falcon 900, 900EX and 2000. STCs for EVAS in the Hawker 600 and 700; Falcon 50 and 50EX; and Gulfstream III, IV and V have been submitted but are not yet approved. VisionSafe also anticipates submitting STCs for all King Air and Bombardier models, as well as the GII, this month.
http://www.visionsafe.com/
http://www.ainonline.com/03_01/Mar_2...smokepg78.html