BOISE, Idaho — A newly approved flight instrument lets pilots see a picture of the ground through clouds and weather, potentially eliminating the kind of disorientation that may have led to the 1999 crash that killed John F. Kennedy Jr.
Designed mainly for private and small commercial aircraft, the $50,000 computer and display system by Boise-based Chelton Flight Systems gives pilots a real-time simulated view of everything needed to fly the plane safely.
That's important when the view out of the cockpit window turns oatmeal gray, the plane bounces blindly though turbulent air and it's impossible to tell whether the plane is aimed up or down. Even a quiet but overcast night sky in a remote area can be disorienting.
"Losing track of the airplane is what gets most pilots into trouble," said Gordon Pratt, Chelton Flight Systems' president and co-developer of the computer.
Chelton's FlightLogic system processes all the aircraft's flight information along with preloaded data about the nearby terrain and pinpoint positioning data from GPS satellites. The system melds it all into one intuitive picture and displays it on a video screen about the size of paperback novel.
No other similar system has been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
"The biggest advantage is everything is in on one display," said Chad Menne, a 29-year-old corporate pilot and instructor in Minneapolis. "Normally it's six, and you're comparing them all in your head — it takes a lot more time and brain processing. With Chelton, it's a three-dimensional quick glance."