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AeroMechanical Services and Iridium offer aviation industry a global solution to
monitor aircraft emergencies in near real time
Summary: AeroMechanical Services Ltd. (AMS), a leading provider of data and voice
communications services for the aviation industry with its Automated Flight Information
Reporting System (afirs™), and Iridium, operator of the world’s largest commercial
satellite network, have demonstrated the ability to capture and continuously stream inflight
position and performance data from an aircraft’s flight data recorder (FDR).
Using an operating mode of afirs known as FlyhtStream™, the solution combines onboard
smart electronics technology, a satellite constellation with fully global reach, including
over the Poles, and secure, Internet-based data delivery to end users. If something
abnormal occurs during an aircraft’s flight, the system triggers an alert and begins
streaming operating performance data via Iridium to designated recipients, including
airline executives and ground support crews, aircraft and engine manufacturers, air traffic
control, and search and rescue.
FlyhtStream represents a quantum leap for the aviation industry in terms of improving
aircraft tracking and in-flight emergency communications. For the first time, the system
offers to the aviation community a tool that can be used to analyze, diagnose and resolve
in-flight problems as they occur, holding out the promise of actually preventing crashes
and loss of life, as well as facilitating better operating decisions during non-crisis
situations.
The system has been proven during in-flight trials over the Atlantic Ocean and other
areas globally, and afirs already is being utilized by more than 30 passenger-service
airlines and business aviation customers as an economical solution to monitor in-flight
aircraft performance from anywhere in the world.
A long-standing industry problem
On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean en route to Paris
from Rio de Janeiro. All 228 passengers and crew perished and most of the aircraft
disappeared. Officials investigating the Airbus A330-200 disaster have never found the
jetliner’s FDRs in the deep ocean waters. Limited messages received from the aircraft
during the emergency via conventional communications systems did not provide enough
information for ground assistance, nor did they clarify the cause of the emergency. As a
result, investigators do not know what caused the jetliner to crash.
The loss of Air France 447 drove home the need to improve in-flight tracking and air
traffic management of aircraft flying transoceanic routes and over remote land areas.
Much of the aviation community’s attention has focused on FDRs (“black boxes”), which
are mandatory equipment on airliners. While state-of-the-art FDRs accumulate a detailed
record of hundreds of in-flight operating parameters, they are not designed to provide
“live” information during flight. Their primary function is to provide a historical record
of an aircraft’s flight, equipping investigators with enough after-the-fact information, for
example, to determine the probable cause of a crash. In the event the black boxes can’t be
recovered after a crash, they are of no use at all.
The AMS solution
The AMS afirs-over-Iridium solution, that incorporates the FlyhtStream data-streaming
function, does not attempt to replace black box technology. Rather, it enhances and
leverages FDR capabilities to give airline operators valuable situational awareness of inflight
operations and flight path. In addition to giving ground crews, airframe and engine
manufacturers, and others the ability to troubleshoot emergencies, the technology also
provides raw FDR data in the event that the black box is not recovered after a crash.
Under its marketing brand FLHYT, AMS introduced its current-generation afirs product
to the commercial aviation market in 2004. It is known as the afirs 220, a programmable,
smart electronic device that monitors, records and processes data and manages real time
communications over Iridium.
The FlyhtStream function that is available within afirs can be pre-programmed to
automatically trigger an alert and begin streaming data over Iridium if an abnormal
operating condition is detected, such as loss of cabin pressure, a rapid change in altitude,
an engine failure, excessive “g” loads, etc. In addition, the data-streaming capability,
including continuous transmission of an aircraft’s GPS coordinates, can be triggered
remotely by a ground crew or by the pilot of an airplane experiencing an emergency
situation.
FlyhtStream is but one of the unique features built into the afirs 220. Coupled with
Iridium’s global satellite network, the system’s “enabler,” afirs seamlessly integrates
routine aircraft performance data, GPS tracking, and two-way voice and text-messaging
communications between aircraft pilots and ground support crews or air traffic
controllers during flights.
To date, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Aviation Safety
Agency, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and Transport Canada have deemed
afirs 220 as airworthy on more than 25 aircraft types and models. Some of the aircraft
covered include the Airbus A320 family, the classic and next-generation Boeing 737,
Boeing 757s, Boeing 767s, DC-10s, Bombardier regional jets and Dash-8 Turboprops,
and Hawker Beechcraft business jets.
Since being introduced to the market, the afirs 220 system has delivered significant cost
savings and operational efficiency improvements to aviation operators across AMS’
business segments. Currently, more than 30 AMS aviation customers globally are using
afirs, with flight operations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China,
South Asia, the Caribbean and even the Antarctic. Customers include scheduled and
charter airlines, regional and commuter airlines, cargo operators, special mission
operators, such as the UN Food Program, business aviation and the military.
Aviation customers report that afirs-over-Iridium gives them complete visibility over
their fleet, regardless of where an aircraft is flying. Typically, afirs is programmed to
transmit routine data messages every five minutes to aviation customers, reporting such
information as an airplane’s precise location and operating condition. Pricing is attractive
because customers are billed based on actual use during a flight.
A look at how afirs works
The afirs 220 is compact and lightweight at 8.7 pounds. The device is installed in the
avionics bay and is connected to aircraft sensors through data buses, similar to the way
office computers are connected to local area networks. Other on-board equipment
consists of a small cockpit indicator panel and several configurations of Iridium satellite
phones for use by aircraft pilots or cabin crews. A low-drag dual-element antenna, about
the size of a deck of cards, is mounted on top of the fuselage of an aircraft, providing
both the connection to Iridium’s satellite network and the reception of GPS time and
position data.
Essentially, the afirs 220 “eavesdrops” on aircraft sensor data passing through the buses.
The smart device is programmed to capture, record and analyze pre-selected criteria,
including engine performance, excess vibration and other system deviations that typically
signal the need for maintenance, and such routine readings as altitude, heading and speed.
Data deemed to be high priority is compressed and transmitted via Iridium’s satellite
network to users on the ground. Lower-priority data is saved to a data-storage card that
can be downloaded as needed after an aircraft lands.
Information transmitted from the afirs 220 is routed seamlessly over Iridium to an AMS
application called UpTime, a web-based server that processes the data into messages and
forwards them to customers via the Internet. UpTime is the primary interface between
afirs and end users. Featuring sophisticated software programs and aircraft databases,
UpTime automatically collects, generates and delivers standard aircraft performance
reports, as well as customized reports prescribed by individual customers.
Using Iridium’s fully meshed, cross-linked satellite network, the afirs system is able to
transmit data from aircraft to end user in seconds. Data passes from satellite to satellite,
touching ground at Iridium’s operations control center in Tempe, Ariz., and is then routed
to AMS’ UpTime web server. The near real-time speed of data throughput is a critical
component of FlyhtStream’s value proposition for use in emergency data-streaming
situations.
In addition to low-latency data transmission, Iridium provides afirs users with truly
global coverage, a significant and unique capability among mobile satellite
communications providers. Iridium’s 66 low-earth orbiting satellites circle above Earth
on polar orbits, intersecting over the North and South poles. Iridium’s constellation offers
the only reliable and continuous two-way communications link with aircraft flying over
the Polar Regions, transoceanic routes and remote land areas.
With a long-term commitment to its aviation, and other, industry customers, Iridium is in
the process of designing and building its next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium
NEXT. The company anticipates launches for Iridium NEXT to begin in 2015 with full
replacement of the current constellation planned for 2017. The new constellation will
maintain the company’s existing network architecture of 66 cross-linked satellites
covering the globe. Iridium NEXT will not only meet the rapidly expanding demand for
truly global mobile communications in the skies, it will also substantially enhance and
extend Iridium mobile communications services, delivering higher data speeds; powerful
new services and devices; advantages of IP technology; and backward compatibility with
current devices and applications. Iridium announced the execution of a fixed-price
contract with Thales Alenia Space for the design and construction of satellites for the
Iridium NEXT constellation. In addition, Coface, the French export credit agency, has
issued, for the account of the French State, a “Promise of Guarantee” which commits to
cover 95 percent of the $1.8 billion credit facility for the project.
Proving out FlyhtStream
To demonstrate the reliability and effectiveness of FlyhtStream-over-Iridium, AMS has
worked with two airlines to test the technology on transatlantic and terrestrial passenger
service flights.
One of the trials, launched in fall 2009 and concluded during the second quarter of 2010,
evaluated the data-streaming capability of an afirs 220 device outfitted on two Airbus
A320s and a Boeing 757. Another ongoing trial is using a Boeing 767. Both the Airbus
and Boeing aircraft models are considered “data rich,” meaning their data buses collect
enough information from FDRs to fully describe the airplanes’ performance and status
during flight.
In both trials, the aim was to use the FlyhtStream function to transmit as much of the
FDR data as possible over Iridium while the aircraft were flying. Of particular interest
was to demonstrate that Iridium’s bandwidth was sufficient to handle the volume of data
flowing from the FDR data file to the ground. The criteria for success was to demonstrate
that FlyhtStream-over-Iridium had the ability to transmit enough in-flight data to be of
value to airline operators, airframe and engine manufacturers, and government agencies
that conduct airplane accident investigations.
Results from the trials clearly revealed the feasibility and power of using FlyhtStreamover-
Iridium to monitor in-flight performance and position in near real time. With
UpTime software tools, AMS staff involved in the testing was able to use data streamed
investigation board to determine what was happening to the aircraft.
The afirs 220 uses an Iridium transceiver capable of transmitting data at a rate of 2,400
kilobits per second. The trials showed that, due to AMS’ ability to compress data passing
through the smart box, the Iridium network had more than enough bandwidth to handle
the load. During testing, the system was able to continuously stream data representing
hundreds of aircraft performance parameters.
Underscoring the significance of the FlyhtStream trials, the Bureau d’Enquetes et d’
Analyses (BEA), the French government board that investigates airplane accidents,
invited AMS to join a working group that was formed in response to the Air France 447
tragedy. Since then, AMS has worked with the BEA group to further demonstrate and
extend FlyhtStream’s capabilities. For example, to confirm the accuracy of the datastreaming
trigger system, AMS programmed the triggers identified by the BEA working
group into an afirs 220 unit being used in the trials. Those triggers were run against an
on-ground FDR database that AMS maintains to confirm the unit was not falsely
triggering and that all triggering events did in fact launch the FlyhtStream mode.
In addition to its collaboration with the BEA, AMS was invited to join a consortium of
airlines, aircraft manufacturers, data service providers and air traffic control entities
involved in the OPTIMI project, an initiative launched by the European Commission to
improve in-flight tracking and air traffic management. OPTIMI, an acronym for Oceanic
Position Tracking Improvement Management Initiative, is evaluating existing technology
that could be deployed to improve air safety. AMS is sharing information on its datastreaming
trials with the Critical Event Detection and Reporting (CEDAR) consortium
that is carrying out the OPTIMI members, including Air France, Air Europa, Airbus, five
Air Navigation Service Providers, a Communications Service Provider and AMS.
Conclusion: AMS has proven that its afirs FlyhtStream-over-Iridium mode is capable of
continuously streaming in-flight data from an aircraft’s FDR to the ground in near real
time. FlyhtStream is a unique capability developed as part of the afirs 220, an on-board
smart avionics device produced by AMS. The afirs 220 has been certified as airworthy
and currently is being deployed by more than 30 customers on revenue-producing
transoceanic, terrestrial, and polar passenger and cargo flights.
At this point, attention is turning to developing a formal set of procedures that can be
used to standardize the use of FlyhtStream. That process will involve aviation regulators,
aircraft and equipment manufacturers, and airlines and industry technologists.
AMS has met the regulatory requirements to install and operate the FlyhtStream
application on commercial aircraft. Aircraft crashes are rare, but often result in the tragic
loss of life when they do occur. It is our hope that FlyhtStream will be used to help
prevent aircraft crashes, not merely record them.
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