Klatt Works targets business jet market with SAVED augmented reality smoke-vision system
Why It MattersThe expansion shows cockpit safety retrofits increasingly moving from airline fleets into business aviation once a technology proves out and reseller and certification networks are in place.
What happened
Klatt Works, a California-based augmented reality company founded by Nate Klatt, is expanding its cockpit safety product, SAVED (Smoke Assured Vision Enhanced Display), into the business jet market. The system fits inside a full oxygen mask and projects a video feed from the aircraft's nose camera overlaid with heads-up display flight data — airspeed, altitude, heading and other essential parameters — so pilots can continue flying and land even when cockpit smoke eliminates forward visibility. The optical core activates only when visibility is actually lost, and the displays are see-through when switched off so pilots can fly normally beforehand.
Klatt Works originally developed augmented-reality glasses for other applications before partnering with FedEx on the cockpit smoke problem. That collaboration produced a version that integrates with Zodiac's MF-20 and MLD-20/40 oxygen masks, already fitted on many commercial aircraft, and fits within the existing cockpit stowage box without requiring new storage space. FedEx is also involved in developing certification for the Boeing 757. SAVED currently holds FAA supplemental type certificates for the Gulfstream G550, Boeing 767 and Boeing 777, with a flight test on the Gulfstream G650 scheduled within the next month and integrations with Bombardier aircraft planned. Additional certifications from EASA, UK CAA and Transport Canada are also required.
Klatt Works identifies the initial addressable business jet market as HUD-equipped Gulfstream aircraft from the G450 and G550 upward, Bombardier's Global fleet, Dassault Falcon jets, the Embraer Praetor, and the Cessna Citation Longitude. Each installed aircraft receives two masks, one per pilot seat, so the co-pilot can call out altitude or airspeed deviations while the captain — whose side usually carries the HUD — works emergency procedures. Nate Klatt cited incident data estimating that a pilot's career odds of encountering a smoke, fire or fumes event are roughly 70%, attributing about 37% of cockpit fire events to electrical system failures, about 26% to engine oil or hydraulic fluid leaks contaminating bleed air, and 8–10% to lithium-ion battery incidents.
The company said it has already delivered "hundreds" of displays in the commercial airline market. SAVED requires an aircraft already equipped with a HUD computer and enhanced vision system. Business aviation installations will run through a reseller network that currently includes Gulfstream, Duncan Aviation, West Star and Altus Aerospace, and the system is also installed at pilot training centres for full-motion simulator demonstrations on the G550 and G650.
Industry impact & what to watch
This is a familiar sequence in cockpit safety hardware: a system proves itself on wide-body and long-haul commercial fleets, backed by an airline partner with fleet scale and certification resources, before a supplier turns to the smaller, more fragmented business jet segment. FedEx's role in developing the Boeing 757 certification illustrates why that order makes sense — a single large operator can absorb the integration cost and validate the concept before a reseller network takes it to owners of individual aircraft.
Business aviation adoption will hinge on hardware dependencies already built into the aircraft: SAVED needs an existing HUD computer and enhanced vision system, which is why Klatt Works names specific qualifying types — Gulfstream from the G450/G550 upward, Bombardier's Global fleet, Dassault Falcon jets, the Embraer Praetor and the Cessna Citation Longitude — rather than describing a universal retrofit. That narrows the near-term market to aircraft that already carry the underlying avionics, with STC coverage still limited to the G550, 767 and 777 and further approvals pending from EASA, UK CAA and Transport Canada.
The next concrete marker is the scheduled Gulfstream G650 flight test within the coming month, followed by whatever timeline emerges for Bombardier integration and the additional STCs. Whether the reseller network — currently Gulfstream, Duncan Aviation, West Star and Altus Aerospace — expands alongside those certifications will determine how quickly business jet operators can actually get the system installed rather than merely qualified for it.
