Operational considerations in improving access to Juneau, Alaska

While new technology resulting in improved navigation accuracy and integrity provides the potential for shorter and more efficient departure and arrival routes and lower minima, there are a great many corollary considerations that are necessary to make revised operations safe and efficient. At Juneau, given conventional navigation capability, the terrain allows only one route into and out of the airport. However, the integration of the multisensor navigation of the Smiths Industries FMS with GPS position sensing and RNP navigation and alerting capability created the potential for using the narrow Gastineau Channel as a sea-level departure and arrival route. This paper presents an overview of the procedure design and focuses on the operational cockpit integration aspects of how the procedures are to be flown. Details of the equipment and external factors that determine procedure availability are presented along with crew training requirements. Methods for safe extraction of the aircraft in the event of equipment failure are explained, and their evaluation during the demonstration flights is presented.