re: Business Article: good find Berglay, thanks :)
New technology could revolutionize the black box
Calgary firm's data-streaming systemwould enhance safety. But what's really caught the airlines' attention is thecost-saving properties
TERRY INIGO-JONES
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CALGARY — Special to The Globe andMail Published on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009 12:00AM EST Last updated on Tuesday,Nov. 03, 2009 4:16AM EST
The staff of AeroMechanical ServicesLtd. watched the fruitless search for flight-data recorders of Air FranceFlight 447 in the South Atlantic from afar earlier this year knowing that theirtechnology could have helped to reconstruct the tragedy.
All 228 passengers and crew on boarddied in the crash en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1. It hasproven impossible to recover the flight-data recorders, commonly known as blackboxes, from the depths of the ocean, thereby slowing the investigation.
The loss of Flight 447 has focusedattention on other ways of collecting flight data - before a pilot reports anemergency. This is where AeroMechanical of Calgary believes it can play a vitalrole. Its technology can collect most of the black-box information bytransmitting the data in real time, via satellite.
"It's high tech, it'senergy-efficient, it's green, it's exactly the right kind of company in theaviation sector that you want to have in your back yard," aviationindustry analyst Rick Erickson says. "It has all kinds of wonderfulupsides."
The fact that the technology alreadyexists will probably cause some regulatory authorities to considerAeroMechanical's product carefully as either a backup or a primary system, Mr.Erickson says.
Airbus, the manufacturer of thedoomed airplane, has added to the speculation by saying the company is workingtoward improving flight data recovery. It has established a working group thatwill look at a number of options, including data transmission, deployablerecorders and enhanced beacons. It will take at least six months for the groupto make initial proposals.
Quoted in the newspaper Le Parisien,Mr. Enders said: "The most important flight data could, for example, betransmitted in real time by satellite as is already the case for informationconcerning aircraft maintenance."
That's an accurate description ofthe system offered by AeroMechanical, known as AFIRS - Automated FlightInformation Reporting System.
It takes information being recordedon the black boxes and, at pre-set intervals, compresses that data andtransmits it via satellite to ground stations. In case of an emergency,real-time streaming of data can be initiated automatically, by the pilot or bythe ground crew.
The information sent is enough tobuild a full animation of events on the aircraft and would allow experts toreconstruct them, says Matt Bradley, AeroMechanical's vice-president ofoperations. "With current bandwidth [you have] almost all of theinformation you need to provide a decent post-flight analysis for an accidentinvestigation."
The system also allows the groundand crew to communicate with each other in real time, either by texting or bysatellite phone, giving the air crew access to another source of advice in anemergency.
"The clever portion isidentifying a subset of the parameters of the black box that are critical andthen taking that and compressing it into a small file and then sending it outby short-burst signal," says Mr. Bradley, a former fighter pilot withCanadian Forces and a commercial pilot and instructor. "That's theinnovation."
However, despite the recentattention given to supplementing or replacing black boxes, there is anotherreason why airlines may be interested in AeroMechanical's technology.
The AFIRs system costs an average of$50,000 to install on existing aircraft, but it offers a quick return on thatinvestment in a number of ways, Mr. Bradley says.
Mr. Erickson adds that the systemmay deliver 3- to 4-per-cent fuel savings. This is done by tracking how anaircraft is being operated and identifying ways to cut fuel use (for exampletaxiing on one engine instead of two) and making sure fuel-reduction protocolsare maintained.
Preventing unscheduled maintenanceis another benefit, Mr. Bradley says. For example, an aircraft might develop aproblem that requires maintenance, but may be stuck where there are nomaintenance facilities or needed parts. "Some operators quote anunscheduled maintenance event as costing as low as $20,000 per event, up to$100,000 or $150,000, depending on the size of the airline," Mr. Bradleysays.
However, monitoring information fromthe engines means some problems can be identified before they happen. Theaircraft can then be diverted to a better location for repairs, or have theappropriate parts waiting for it.
Then there is what's known in theindustry as OOOI times - Out, Off, On and In Times. AFIRS allows an airline totrack exactly when an aircraft moves - when it takes off, lands and pulls in."There is roughly a two- to three-minute error on almost every leg of acommercial aviation flight when you are not using electronic forms of data.Believe it or not, some airlines have made the justification for cost based onthat alone."
Mr. Erickson adds: "They can dosome really, really nifty stuff. Some of the sensors of the airplanes candetect magnetic anomalies on things they are overflying. Geophysical and miningcompanies like that kind of data. As well, some of the parameters [measured] onthe aircraft are very useful to the meteorology people. They are able topackage that up and basically sell it off."
Jacques Kavafian, vice-president ofResearch Capital Inc., is also impressed by AeroMechanical. He owns stock inthe company and Research Capital has a relationship with the company as aninvestment banker. "[The technology] is attractive because it helpsairlines save a lot of money by tracking fuel consumption and by also trackingmaintenance occurrences and alerting the airlines in real time of any problemsthat occur. No one else really can do that in a way that is economical likeAeroMechanical does. Their technology is essentially the cheaper way totransmit the data in real time from the airplane to the ground. ..."
"That $50,000 [installationcost] will save airlines anywhere from $100,000 per plane per year up to$500,000 per plane per year. It's a savings amount that no one canignore."
AeroMechanical, which has about 50employees, already has the appropriate supplemental-type certificates for theirequipment to be used on a number of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, and Mr. Bradleysays it is compatible with all major aircraft manufacturers. Mr. Kavafian saysAeroMechanical has installed 180 AFIRS units on aircraft at various airlines.
"We see ourselves as being inthe right place at the right time, with the right product," he says.
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Gas-saving potential
$3.4-billion
Air Canada's 2008 aircraft fuel bill
3 to 4 per cent
Estimated aircraft fuel savings
using AeroMechanical's AFIRS system
$119-million
Potential savings for Air Canada(using sample 3.5 per cent figure)
Sources: Air Canada, and RickErickson, aviation industry analyst
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from:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/new-technology-could-revolutionize-the-black-box/article1349161/