French operator Twin Jet is working alongside AMI Aviation Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of AeroMech Incorporated and FAA part 145 repair station with facilities in Florida and Tennessee, to deliver 13 Garmin G950 integrated flight deck installation kits, which will be used to modify Twin Jet's fleet of Beech 1900D aircraft.

The FAA PMA approved kits will include an EASA-approved STC issued by parent company AeroMech for the G950 modification, all required structural and electrical parts including wire harnesses, third party parts including fans and annunciators, and miscellaneous hardware down to the ‘rivet level’. Twin Jet will be the first EASA operator to offer 1900D service with the new fully integrated Garmin avionics and all glass cockpit. The G950 system offers a new level of safety-enhancing situational awareness tools, solves avionics obsolescence issues, improves dispatch reliability and expands the operational life and capabilities of this venerable aircraft.

“The G950 upgrade provides next generation avionics capability, including ADS-B, with an impressive feature set at a fraction of the cost of traditional flight deck retrofits,” says Dave Doucette, president of AMI. “It's a complete avionics modernisation with 5,000 ft (1,520m) of all new wiring and new Garmin avionics with two-year warranty. This is a go-forward plan for Twin Jet to allow it to modernise its fleet and replace unreliable and obsolete parts. And it saves 220 pounds (102.1 kgs). In addition to the operational benefits, the G950 offers significant safety improvements, resulting from the large 15-inch moving map, TCAS II traffic system, weather radar and terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS). Passengers and crew can expect fewer delays as a result of the more reliable avionics.”