Professional Engineering Magazine : Data streaming could keep track of planes throughout their flights

Return to:

Data streaming could keep track of planes throughout their flights

AeroMechanical Services (AMS) has carried out pre-deployment testing of a communication technology that can stream data from aircraft to ground anywhere, anytime, in real time. In-service evaluation with an unnamed airline will be carried out in the next few weeks.

The technology comes in the wake of the Air France plane crash in June which led to industry calls for a “live black box” capable of streaming critical flight information in real time. Such a system could provide immediate insights into in-flight incidents and assist in rescue missions and reconstructions in the event that an aircraft’s black box cannot be recovered, as was the case in the Air France incident.

Crash aftermath: Flight data boxes are hard to find after accidents, and could be replaced by new system

In emergency mode, the Automated Flight Information Reporting System (Afirs) can trigger a streaming mode to begin transmission of essential position and flight data recorder information. AMS said that the system has been shown to provide a continuous automated link between onboard avionics, the Iridium global satellite network and a ground-based web server that routes messages to any number of designated recipients, all within seconds.

AMS president Richard Hayden said it represented an exciting breakthrough. “This capability is not only valuable in improving responses to in-flight issues but, in the rare case where an aircraft is lost, this data stream can provide immediate insight into the exact flight path, location, and possible cause of the accident.”

The use of Iridium means that there are no coverage gaps in the Afirs data streaming anywhere on the globe.

A common complaint with data-streaming technology is that it isn’t economically viable due to the massive bandwidth and infrastructure requirements. But AMS technology compresses flight data to use available bandwidth fully, allowing it to send substantially more information than an aircraft using a standard satellite system.

The system has a voice capability so crews can contact ground staff, and a button that can be pressed in the event of a hijacking.

	Previous tech story	Next tech story
	Back to contents	Email us your views

www.profeng.com The home of Professional Engineering on the web

Professional Engineering

Related links and resources

Data streaming could keep track of planes throughout their flights

www.profeng.com The home of Professional Engineering on the web

Professional Engineering

Search our back issues

Related links and resources

Data streaming could keep track of planes throughout their flights