Partner Feature

Turboclear Process Dispatches Pathogens from Jet Aircraft Interiors Quickly, Effectively

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams International found itself asking the same question as many business jet owners and operators: how can we safely return to flying?

Williams immediately put its engineering, materials, product support, and aviation operations talent to work investigating potential solutions to get back to flying while keeping its workforce safe and healthy. This investigation led to Pureline’s PureVista product – a water-activated agent that disperses chlorine dioxide gas into an area, obliterating bacteria and microorganisms from the air and exposed surfaces. Of all the potential solutions considered (including foggers, electrostatic sprayers, manual deep-cleaning, and UV treatments, among others), PureVista promised superior results at a fraction of the cost. The only issue? PureVista was not originally developed for aircraft.

Fortunately, Williams has a world-class materials department, and extensive experience operating aircraft both in experimental and business travel configurations. After a battery of compatibility testing, Williams determined that PureVista is safe and compatible with both hard and soft aircraft interior surfaces (a very important consideration for the owner of such valuable assets). Williams experimented to find the optimal parameters, developing a process that thoroughly and effectively cleared the air and all exposed interior surfaces or pathogens with a one-hour treatment – a feature especially appreciated by the flight department, who was now able to maintain its typical tempo of operations. Plus, the process was so simple that it required no specialized training or equipment. And it easily got into tight spaces like cup holders and seatback pockets, as well as high-touch and hard-to-reach areas of the cockpit. “You simply open the disposable dispenser, add water, secure the cabin from inadvertent entry, and come back 60 minutes later to vent the cabin,” said Robert Lambert, Williams’ Aviation Operations Manager. “It was so quick that our team started referring to it as ‘Turboclearing’ the jet.”

Prior to COVID-19, General Aviation directly employed over 270,000 full and part-time workers; generated $77 billion in labor income; contributed $128 billion to US GDP; and including indirect, induced, and enabled impacts, supported 1.2 million jobs and $247 billion in output. While private aviation travel is starting to rebound after the very severe decreases in traffic in April and May (at times, as much as a 75% reduction from the previous year), the safety of passengers, crew and operators of private air travel is paramount to returning the general aviation market to a healthy state. Therefore, Williams has made the Turboclear Process – utilizing PureLine Solutions’ PureVista – available to the general public. For more information, visit http://www.williams-int.com/turboclear.

Headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan, Williams International is the world leader in the design, manufacturing and support of small gas turbine engines. In addition to its world class reputation for customer support, Williams is also well known for establishing the most highly integrated and automated manufacturing facilities in the world to support high quality, high volume production and on schedule delivery of its rapidly growing family of commercial and military products. Ingot and other raw materials enter one end of these facilities and finished engines exit the other. For more information about the company, its products, and support, please visit www.williams-int.com.