C. Donald Bateman

File:Don Bateman 2012.jpg

Charles Donald Bateman (8 March 1932 - {{death date and age|2023|5|21|1932|3|8|df=yes}}), often known as Don Bateman, was a Canadian electrical engineer and the inventor of the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS), a device that is responsible for a marked decline in controlled flight into terrain accidents, such as the Mount Erebus Disaster with Air New Zealand Flight 901.{{cite news| title=Meet the Man Behind a Revolution in Aviation Safety | website=Bloomberg.com | date=10 August 2016 | url=http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-bateman-airplane-safety-device/ | access-date=26 May 2023}}

{{quotation|"It's accepted within the industry that Don Bateman has probably saved more lives than any single person in the history of aviation."|Bill Vos of the Flight Safety Foundation{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Domenic |date=4 February 2012 |title=Redmond aviation engineer's lifelong work has saved thousands of lives |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/ |access-date= |website=The Seattle Times}}}}

Bateman was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 8 March 1932. He earned his degree in electrical and electronics engineering at the University of Saskatchewan in 1956 before beginning a career at Sundstrand Corporation (later Honeywell).{{Cite news |last=Sandomir |first=Richard |date=2023-06-02 |title=Don Bateman, Who Kept Airplanes From Crashing, Dies at 91 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/technology/don-bateman-dead.html |access-date=2023-06-19 |issn=0362-4331}} Bateman spent most of his career as Chief Engineer, Flight Safety Avionics at Honeywell. Over his career, he developed innovative, cost-effective avionic flight systems. His most significant accomplishment is having pioneered the invention of the original Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS){{Cite web |date=2023-06-19 |title=National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee Donald Bateman Invented the GPWS |url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/c-donald-bateman |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=www.invent.org |language=en}} in the late 1960s. The United States now requires the installment of GPWS for turbine aircraft which carry nine or more passengers.{{Cite web |title=Terrain Awareness and Warning System |url=https://unblock.federalregister.gov/ |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=unblock.federalregister.gov}} This technology has earned Honeywell close to a billion dollars in revenue.{{Cite journal |last=Bateman |first=Donald C. |date=2001 |title=An Engineer Looks at Innovation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24134028 |journal=Research Technology Management |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=25–27 |doi=10.1080/08956308.2001.11671437 |jstor=24134028 |issn=0895-6308|url-access=subscription }}

Bateman retired from Honeywell on 21 July 2016. He died on 21 May 2023, at the age of 91.{{cite news |title=Don Bateman, 'Father' Of Terrain Awareness Warning Systems, Dies At 91 |url=https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/don-bateman-father-terrain-awareness-warning-systems-dies-91 |access-date=25 May 2023 |publisher=Aviation Week Network |date=25 May 2023}}

Scientific work

While having over 40 U.S. and 80 foreign patents concerning aircraft terrain avoidance systems, head-up displays, speed control/auto throttle systems, stall warning systems, automatic aircraft flight control systems, and weight-and-balance systems, Bateman is most recognized for his invention of the original Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS). With his team of Honeywell Aerospace engineers, Bateman invented the original GPWS, and later improved these devices. Every five years his team "[came] up with a new model, not because the technology had improved but because we knew we could make it better." These advancements led to the creation of the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS). This program provides a better visualization than the GPWS did. At a glance, pilots can view a visual display of hazardous terrain below and ahead of the aircraft.{{Cite web |last=Ratings |first=Airline |date=2017-02-06 |title=What is the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EPGWS)? |url=https://www.airlineratings.com/did-you-know/what-is-the-enhanced-ground-proximity-warning-system-epgws/ |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Airline Ratings |language=en-AU}}

=Ground proximity warning system (GPWS)=

A series of aircraft crashes as a result of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) led Bateman to take the initiative in creating a solution to these accidents. CFIT is defined as "where a pilot has the aircraft under control but unknowingly flies into terrain" This type of accident typically takes place during poor visibility. Bateman felt it was within his capabilities to construct a system that would detect hazardous terrain in the aircraft's projected path.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

The Ground proximity warning system (GPWS) serves the purpose of alerting pilots if their aircraft is in danger of flying into hazardous terrain or the ground. As explained by its patent description, it does so by using a radar altimeter system to keep track of the aircraft’s height above ground and will sound an alarm if the altitude is unsafe:{{Cite patent|number=US3922637A|title=Aircraft landing approach ground proximity warning system|gdate=1975-11-25|invent1=Bateman|inventor1-first=Charles Donald|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3922637A/en}}

{{quotation|"In order to provide for the additional effectiveness of a ground proximity warning system during a landing approach, the waypoint signal of an Area Navigation System is used in combination with an altitude above-ground-signal to compute a minimum terrain altitude for each point along the aircraft's approach to the runway. The minimum altitude is compared with the aircraft's actual altitude and if it is below the minimum an alarm is activated."|}}

While this technology improved flight safety tremendously, it was still imperfect. It had two problems:{{Cite web |last=Wiolland |first=Kim |date=July 2007 |title=Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems Evolve, Provide Greater Safety |url=https://aea.net/AvionicsNews/ANArchives/EGPWSJuly07.pdf |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=Aircraft Electronics Association}}

No Warning: The primary cause of CFIT occurrences with no GPWS warning is landing short. When the landing gear is down and landing flaps are deployed, the GPWS expects the airplane to land and therefore, issues no warning.
Late Warning or Improper Response: This was primarily caused by blind-spots within the terrain. A sudden change in altitude—a steep slope, for example—would receive a late warning and the pilot might be unable to avoid the obstacle. This problem was implicated in the Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 accident.

=Enhanced GPWS=

Bateman continued to head the development of the GPWS, developing it into the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS), a version that features digital terrain mapping techniques paired with three-dimensional GPS information, providing for “look-ahead” capability as well as advanced aural and visual warnings. These advancements allow for conflict predictability and improve the crew’s warning time by 20 seconds in some cases.

EGPWS also provides protection when the aircraft needs to land, keeping it from landing short or in an area without a runway. It adds an increasing terrain clearance envelope around the destination runway to prevent premature descent rates. The system’s database can predict a safe descent profile because it knows the exact runway location and elevation through database sourcing as well as latitude/longitude sensing.

Awards

Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2005)
Industrial Research Institute Achievement Award (2001)Bateman, C. Donald. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6714/is_4_44/ai_n28848459/ "An Engineer Looks at Innovation"], Research-Technology Management, Vol. 44, No. 4 (July–August 2001).
Awarded the Cumberbatch Trophy of GAPAN for a major personal contribution to the improvement of international air safety (1996)
Awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Barack Obama (2010){{cite press release|title=Remarks by the President at Presentation of the National Medals of Science and the National Medals of Technology and Innovation|date=21 October 2011|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/21/remarks-president-presentation-national-medals-science-and-national-meda}}
Awarded the Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement Award by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine (2013){{citation | title = Aviation Week Laureate Awards: Past Winners | url = http://events.aviationweek.com/current/lau/pastwinners.htm | work = Aviation Week Events website | publisher = Aviation Week, McGraw Hill Financial | access-date = 24 December 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131226010311/http://events.aviationweek.com/current/lau/pastwinners.htm | archive-date = 26 December 2013 | url-status = dead }}
Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio (2024){{cite web |title=The National Aviation Hall of Fame Announces the "Class of 2024" |url=https://nationalaviation.org/the-national-aviation-hall-of-fame-announces-the-class-of-2024/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CFrom%20innovators%20and%20industry%20trailblazers,essence%20of%20excellence%20in%20aviation. |website=National Aviation Hall of Fame}}

Patents

Bateman held more than 40 U.S. and 80 foreign patents concerning aircraft terrain avoidance systems, HUDs, speed control/autothrottle systems, stall warning systems, automatic flight control systems, and weight and balance systems. The earliest {{patent|US|3686626}} for a HUD dates to 1972 when he was with United Controls. The latest, {{patent|US|008057849}} for a cabin depressurization warning system, dates to 2008 with Honeywell.

The primary GPWS patent, Aircraft landing approach ground proximity warning system {{patent|US|3922637}} dates to 1976, with Sundstrand Data.

Abstract: “In order to provide for the additional effectiveness of a ground proximity warning system during a landing approach, the waypoint signal of an Area Navigation System is used in combination with an altitude above-ground-signal to compute a minimum terrain altitude for each point along the aircraft's approach to the runway. The minimum altitude is compared with the aircraft's actual altitude and if it is below the minimum an alarm is activated.”