Embraer's Phenom 100 entry level executive jet has received the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil - ANAC), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certificates to use Garmin's Synthetic Vision Technology(tm) (SVT).

This feature recreates a visual topographic landscape from system's terrain-alerting database through a sophisticated graphics modeling, simulating what the pilot would see with the naked eye in broad daylight. It is particularly helpful in fog, rain, haze, darkness or heavy instrument flight conditions. The resulting virtual reality display offers pilots a supplemental 3-D depiction of ground, water, obstacles, airports, and traffic.

"This safety-enhancing feature allows pilots to benefit from a far easier situational orientation, reinforcing Embraer's commitment to providing a unique flight deck solution to the Phenom jets," said Mauricio Almeida, Embraer Vice President, Programs - Executive Jets.

The system counts on color-coded landscape, clearly showing with amber or red overlays those areas where potential flight-into-terrain risks exist. Towers or other obstacles that may interfere with the flight path are also color-highlighted and displayed with the appropriate symbology. SVT works with Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and Traffic Information Service (TIS) traffic technologies to depict targets in 3-D perspective, allowing real time assessment on how close and how high they are. Using familiar TCAS symbology that grows larger as it gets nearer, SVT makes traffic conflicts easier to see and identify.

Also available for retrofitting at a minimum downtime, SVT is a key feature of the Prodigy(tm) flight deck. Based on Garmin's fully integrated avionics suite, Prodigy(tm) was exclusively developed for the Phenom jets and incorporates Embraer's extensive experience in developing cockpits for commercial and defense aircraft. Human factors, enhanced situational awareness, glass cockpit with large displays, state-of-the-art avionics and single pilot operation are the design drivers behind every detail of this flight deck.

Coming next is the SVT approval for the Phenom 300, which will be the first light jet to offer this technology. Currently under way, the certification process is advancing as planned towards an entry into service in the coming months.