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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/travel/0,3800011481,39163013,00.htm

Photos: A safer way to navigate the skies
3D images get 'blind' pilots to see

By Gemma Simpson

Published: Thursday 05 October 2006

Pilots learn to fly by looking out of the window but what happens when the window is surrounded by fog or a sandstorm?

They rely on computers to guide them, of course. But the navigation systems most pilots use today leave something to be desired.

US industrial manufacturing giant, Honeywell, has developed a new safety system to show the pilot where the plane is in the sky when visibility is low and, more importantly, whether it's about to crash into anything.

silicon.com recently got to see the new system in action on a test flight in a private plane.

Time to buckle those safety belts...

Photo credit: Steve Ranger