Lufthansa has devised a cost-effective and efficient technology for retro-fitting traditionally designed aircraft like the Boeing 737 with modern satellite navigation. The technology simultaneously expands and enhances the aircraftå‘s Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS ) to lessen the risk of ground collisions. A Lufthansa Boeing 737 coded D-ABJA will be conducting certification flights with the new system on the coming Easter weekend (March 30 to April 1). 

After take-off from Frankfurt, the Boeing named “Bad Segeberg” will flight to to Münster/Osnabrück airport and will perform a few landings there. Afterwards the aircraft will depart from Münster/Osnabrück to overfly the 557 metre-high Schwengeberg southwest of Baunatal, with its ideal-type silhouette, at a height above it of about 120 metres. The flights have all been cleared with German air traffic control (DFS). They are subject to visual flight rules and will, therefore, only take place in good weather.
The Boeing aircraft manufacturer and the Honeywell computer supplier have partnered Lufthansa in developing the new satellite navigation system. It is suitable for installation in many thousands of aircraft which are equipped with a simple flight management computer (FMC); not just Boeing 737 types but also diverse variants of the MD-80. The system works with signals from the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) fed with an additional plug-in card into the aircraft’s on-board computer, allowing more precise definition of the aircraft’s position. The Lufthansa solution will be available, worldwide, after certification by the German aviation agency (LBA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

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