Aeronautical Study for the Donauwörth special helicopter landing pad takes effect: Eurocopter continues to be allowed to carry out IFR RNAV approaches
March 2012 | Safety Assessment
The approval authority of the Government of Upper Bavaria, the Southern Bavarian Air Office, will continue to approve the IFR RNAV operation at the Donauwörth special helicopter landing site for an indefinite period as of 15 March 2012. The Aeronautical Study prepared by GfL convinced the technical authority as well as the German air navigation services DFS and the BMVBS, which have to comment on such decisions of the state authority. The result of the study is that, despite the unique local conditions, the implementation of the risk reduction measures required in the expert opinion ensures safe and regular flight operations in accordance with ICAO. The measures are comprehensively suitable to compensate for the violation of the Visual Segment Surface of the RNAV approach procedure according to ICAO PANS OPS. The expert opinion was based on a comprehensive measurement campaign in the form of helicopter approaches carried out by various crews under changing meteorological conditions and day and night at the site. The flight paths were measured using high-precision D-GPS sensors on board the helicopters, which were installed exclusively for this project.
