ATR72-600 Certified

摘要

On May 31 the manufacturer announced that the ATR72-600 turboprop regional airliner had been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) following completion of ground and flight tests using the prototype. The ATR72-600 features a new glass cockpit comprising five liquid crystal display screens and new flight management, communications, navigation and alert management systems developed in conjunction with Thales. A new cabin interior has also been designed for the aircraft. The ATR72-600 was launched along with the shorter ATR42-600 in October 2007 to update the existing Series 500 variant of each. The prototype first flew in 2009 and while the majority of the test campaign was undertaken at the manufacturer's facility at Toulouse, it was also test flown from Agen, Charles de Gaulle Airport and Tarbes in France, and Lugano in Switzerland, the latter location allowing a steep approach.