EC145 Becomes First Civil Helicopter Certified to Use NVGs

The FAA, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA and Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) certified Eurocopter's EC145 for NVG (night-vision goggle) operations, making Eurocopter the first OEM (original equipment manufacturer) able to offer this capability to civil operators.

Eurocopter sees this certification as a major step toward enabling civil EC145 operators to use NVG in their operations, which will increase both their nighttime mission capabilities and safety.

The certification, which was achieved on May 31^st, was accomplished on an EC145 with a French Sécurité Civile configuration that uses Eurocopter's MEGHAS display system and the Esterline CMC Electronics CMA-3000 flight management system.

Eurocopter says the certified configuration basically consists of an installed NVIS (night vision imaging system) including internal and external aircraft lighting and night vision goggles (presently the ITT F 4949 and / or NOGALIGHT NL-93 models).

Importantly, Eurocopter says the capability created by this certification can be extended to helicopters already in service, and can be integrated into new Eurocopter cockpit configurations, subject to certain technical considerations.

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