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Emirates, the Dubai-based luxury airline, said Thursday that it would soon be installing technology designed to detect severe turbulence on its planes. The announcement comes in the wake of a Singapore Airlines severe turbulence incident that left dozens of passengers injured and one dead.
The carrier will be joining the International Air Transport Association’s Turbulence Aware Platform and use a version that includes Ludo mPilot navigation software. Emirates has installed the gadgetry on 140 of its planes so far, and it says that it will also be doing so for every new plane that enters its fleet, be they manufactured by Boeing or Airbus.
“Bringing these platforms together offers a wealth of data, combined with new technologies that make up-to-the-minute, highly accurate turbulence information and forecasts available for pilots, equipping them with the means to plot the best paths around affected areas for enhanced safety, efficient navigation, and optimisation of flight plans,” Emirates said in a statement.
An initial investigation into the Singapore Airlines incident found that an updraft destabilized the plane, and passengers were thrown about the cabin while the pilots and the plane’s autopilot sought to bring it back under control.