Twin Otter Pilot Taps Ergo Blue App To Enhance Safety on Antarctic Trips | Aviation International News

Twin Otter Pilot Taps Ergo Blue App for Antarctic Trips

Software shows ship positions to improve survival chances during a ditching

Aeronautical Data Systems Ergo Blue app — This composite image shows the ship positions in the Ergo Blue app (left) and a ship photographed by Twin Otter captain Paul C. while flying over the Drake Passage. © Aeronautical Data Systems

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

January 7, 2025

During a recent stint as a pilot flying a Twin Otter turboprop across the Drake passage to Antarctica, captain Paul C. used Aeronautical Data Systems’ Ergo Blue app to monitor the position of ships in case of an emergency requiring ditching in the ocean.

The Ergo Blue app provides ship position using automatic identification system data from Orbcomm. When the Apple iPad is connected to a GPS source, Ergo Blue shows the aircraft position relative to the ships, and the user can select a ship as a waypoint and view the bearing and distance to the ship. The Ergo Blue information can also be connected to ForeFlight and added as a layer on the ForeFlight moving map, enabling pilots to plot “direct-to” navigation guidance to a ship.

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