Terrain Awareness and Warning System

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is amending the operating rules to require that certain airplanes be equipped with an FAA-approved terrain awareness and warning system (also referred to as an enhanced ground proximity warning system). This final rule is a general aviation regulation that affects all U.S. registered turbine- powered airplanes with six or more passenger seats (exclusive of pilot and copilot seating). This change is in response to several accident investigations and studies that have shown a need to expand the safety benefits of ground proximity warning systems to certain additional operations. These investigations and studies have also shown that there is a need to increase the warning times and situational awareness of flight crews to decrease the risk of controlled flight into terrain accidents.