Alpine Air Express Invests In Additional Safety

Provo, UT - Alpine Air Express, Inc., the regional cargo airline and transportation logistics company in the US, with a fleet of 27 airplanes and annual sales of $20M+, announced that the Company has approved additional investment to bolster its aircraft safety.

The Company's board of directors has appropriated an initial $300,000 dollars to enhance the safety of its aircraft. Beginning with Alpine's mainland fleet, then expanding to its fleet in Hawaii, the Company plans to install a combination of either Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS) or Ground Proximity Warning Systems. The systems are an important addition to the Company's fleet and pilot safety programs.

• Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems are designed to provide the pilot with information to reduce the possibility of accidents. Flights flown by Alpine in Montana and the Dakotas are the first fleet aircraft to be fitted with the new technologically advanced navigation equipment.
• The TAWS system takes aircraft information with planned flight path information and combines these with an internal terrain database. The result is an unprecedented "look-ahead" capability, which can provide warnings and alerts well in advance of potential hazards, allowing time for the pilot to make the necessary maneuvers or data corrections for terrain avoidance.

According to a Company spokesperson, a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground. The system monitors an aircraft's height above ground as determined by a radar altimeter. A computer then keeps track of these readings, calculates trends, and will warn the captain with visual and/or audio messages if the aircraft is in certain defined flying configurations.

Gene Mallette, CEO of Alpine Air, added: "Pilot and aircraft safety are values that our Company recognize as critical toward long-term success. Our management believes the installation of advanced navigation technology into our fleet is important in keeping with these values."

SOURCE: Alpine Air Express Inc.