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Cirrus Offers Built-In Safety Reminder

January 21, 2007
By Russ Niles,
Contributing Editor



If it’s not enough that your family is worried about you, your fellow pilots keep tabs and the whole aviation system is built around this notion, now your airplane can remind you to fly safely. Cirrus Design has introduced a feature on its Avidyne multifunction display that will invite some introspection along those lines. Those with revision 6 of the software for the system will get three pages displayed on startup that ask questions Cirrus CEO Alan Klapmeier thinks every pilot should answer before releasing the brakes. “As a Cirrus owner and pilot, I appreciate the friendly reminder to make sure that I am personally prepared to fly myself and my passengers safely to our destination,” Klapmeier said. “It was natural to add ‘Risk Assessment Tool’ as a function of the versatile Avidyne Entegra MFD.” Cirrus spokeswoman Kate Dougherty said the display grew out of Klapmeier’s letter to Cirrus owners about safety after three fatal accidents in October. The screens contain sections on limitations, weather, flight planning, passenger briefing, and readiness to fly and are designed to invite pilots to take stock of their abilities, conditions and other factors that could affect the outcome of the flight. It’s also available online to all pilots, regardless of the airplane(s) they fly.



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