Boeing 787 to be fitted with Enchanced data recorders

[S V Choong 4]

Boeing 787s to be fitted with enhanced data recorders

 

By Guy Norris in Seattle

Additional reporting by Graham Warwick

 

Boeing’s 787 will be the first aircraft equipped with enhanced airborne flight recorders (EAFR), combined “black-box” cockpit voice and flight data recorders (CVR/FDR) with crash-protected memory and the capability to record datalink messages and cockpit imagery.

 

Smiths Aerospace is developing the 787 EAFR to meet the Arinc 767 standard now being finalised by the Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee (AEEC). The solid-state EAFR will meet current mandates for CVR and FDR performance, but with capability “well beyond” that, says Daniel Martinec, director of industry activities for Arinc, which administers the AEEC. Arinc 767 includes the capability to record 4-6 frames/s of cockpit imagery.

 

Current recorders are limited by the capacity of the databus linking them to the aircraft flight data acquisition unit (FDAU), says Martinec. The EAFR is designed to work with the Ethernet-based AFDX wideband network chosen for the 787. This has allowed the AEEC to specify a “virtual FDAU”, giving the manufacturer the freedom to decide whether data is provided to the recorder via a stand-alone acquisition unit or taken directly from the aircraft databus. “We have only specified the format for data input into the recorder,” says Martinec.

 

Boeing’s original EAFR concept “didn’t meet the letter of the law” in some specific areas, including power supply, says 787 systems director Mike Sinnet. “We had to work with the [uS Federal Aviation Administration] to get an acceptable means of compliance with multiple sources of power by putting two on the aircraft,” he says, adding that the EAFRs will be located “one in the nose and one in back.”

 

 

Link: http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/...+recorders.html

 

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

I feel its high time for this

 

Current FDR's only keep record of the last 30 minutes of the flight

 

With our current technology , couldn't we come up with something more advanced and sophisticated

[Edwin P K 0]

I feel its high time for this

 

Current FDR's only keep record of the last 30 minutes of the flight

 

With our current technology , couldn't we come up with something more advanced and sophisticated

 

I agree - actually they should record the whole flight's record and then automatically transmit to a station. I mean if we can have Connexion on flights, I"m sure we are able to do the same to achieve the transmision of data?? That way, in the unfortunate event of crash, we don't need wait for the black box to ascertain what went wrong.

 

But then again, I'm sure they have considered all these before, and probably not so feasible to implement.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pieter C. 5]

I agree - actually they should record the whole flight's record

 

True, that's why it was so difficult for the investigators to find the real reason for the Helios crash, having no more records of the (pre) take-off conversations, amongst other data

[Min Chun 0]

Today's advance techonology could do that I suppose.

That should be something really useful for aircrash investigation

[Edwin P K 0]

Yeah...even things like the Sept 11 can't be avoided, if live information feeds are able to be relayed back to the ground.