Aircraft
ERJ-135 gets LCY nod
Embraer’s 37-seat ERJ-135 regional jet last month won JAA approval to fly the steep approach into London City Airport.

Embraer’s 37-seat ERJ-135 regional jet last month won JAA approval to fly the steep approach into London City Airport. The certification marks Embraer’s first successful bid to approve an airplane for operation into the downtown airfield, where noise restrictions limit access to aircraft and pilots capable of demonstrating safe execution of its 5.5-degree glideslope. 

Contrary to the lengthier and more complicated approval process the new 70-seat Embraer 170 continues to undergo, LCY certification proved a fairly straightforward exercise for the ERJ-135, involving no structural changes and a reprogramming of the airplane’s GPWS and FADEC systems. The test campaign started in April, and included development and certification flights at São José dos Campos, Brazil, Blythe, Calif., and Coventry, England. The campaign came to a close after confirmation flights at London City in September.