Increasing SOP Compliance

In the era where increased incidents and accidents are attributed to flight crew non-adherence to procedures, what can be done to ensure increased SOP compliance?

Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) are a critical component in flight operations and in improving the flight safety. They are intended as a guard against operational errors and help elevate crew performance leading to safe operation of a flight.

AIRCRAFT GO-AROUND MANEUVER

One question that is frequently asked in aviation circles about piloting issue is as to why a go-around was not carried out when the approach was unstable.

 Looking at the data that is out there, the stats point out that only 2-3% of the unstabilised approaches end in a go-around.Well then, the questions that are being asked about go-arounds seem justified and needs an in-depth look at various facets as to why it is so.

What is it that makes a well trained and proficient crew shy away from conducting a go-around on the approach when it is required so??

ILS Signal Interference

 

Recently a commercial large jet was cleared for an ILS approach to Runway 28 at Chicago O’Hare airport. While inbound to intercept the Glide slope, the cockpit indications were initially full up. Abruptly the display changed from full up to full down position and the aircraft pitched down and descended to stay on the glide slope. The pilot reacted to disconnect the autopilot, but not before the aircraft had descended a 100 ft. The display restored to full up deflection soon thereafter.

 This anomaly was most likely caused by disruption of the Glide slope signals caused by a large cargo aircraft holding for take-off. ATC controller had advised the crew of this aircraft that they were not required to protect the ILS critical area.

EMAS: Engineered Material Arresting System

Aircraft overruns during landing and take-off are a frequent occurrence and statistically are the fourth largest cause of airline fatalities. . An overrun occurs when an aircraft passes beyond the end of a runway during an aborted take-off or while landing. To minimize the hazards of overruns, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) incorporated the concept of a safety area beyond the runway end into airport design standards.  However, there are many runways, where natural obstacles, local development and other constraints make the construction of the RESA impracticable. Recognising the difficulty associated with accomplishing RESA without compromising the performance capability of a runway, research programmes were initiated to find alternate and effective arresting solutions.

A380 PUSHING TECHNICAL BOUNDARIES

Airbus has always been at the forefront of pushing technical boundaries in aviation and excelling in aircraft design and technology. Airbus says efforts to lower the weight of the world's largest airliner lay behind recent A380 wing cracks and pledged to learn from mistakes that lay dormant for a decade, as repair costs looked set to climb towards 500 million euros ($A642 million).

AERONAUTICAL DECISION MAKING

In life, one makes decisions of various kinds, some routinely, and some after deliberate considerations. In aviation too, decision making is an essential pilot skill. While pre-flight situations are static in nature and under time pressure, inflight scenarios are constantly evolving and are dynamic in nature that needs immediate decisions and constant review.  The basic skill sets that a pilot need to fly the airplane safely can be categorised as :

DELIVERY OF CRITICAL DATA TO FLIGHT DECK

Anew flight data delivery solution for airlines developed jointly by teams at Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen and Boeing  Information Services slashes the time required to deliver and load vital flight data to an airplane. Application Data Enhanced Loading (ADEL) is a solution that reduces overall workload, network bandwidth requirements and costs associated with airline data operations. ADEL supports Boeing and Jeppesen Electronic Flight Bags.

TCAP AN ALTITUDE CAPTURE ENHANCEMENT

Wikipedia

Agrowing sense of alarm over the rising incidents of mid-air collisions and near misses, brought about the introduction of TCAS and today the sky is far safer to fly  in.  However, this also brought about an unwelcome and recurrent side effect that of nuisance or operationally undesired RA commands.

An operationally undesired RA is one that is triggered during 1000 ft level off manoeuvres, while the crew is operating within clearances granted. This normally occurs when the vertical closure rates are high. This accounts for almost 50 % of RAs encountered in today’s environment.

BIODIESEL TRIAL BY VIRGIN AUSTRALIA

Virgin group has always been at the forefront when it comes to emissions and pushing the boundaries to find solutions to contain emissions and be environment friendly.In a first for an Australian airline, Virgin Australia has launched a trial of environmentally-friendly biodiesel in its ground service equipment, according to press release by the airline.

A330 PASSENGER TO FREIGHTER PROGRAM

According to Airbus press release today,Airbus, ST Aerospace and EADS EFW have finalised the agreement to establish the collaboration for the launch of the A330 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversion programme. This follows the MoU announced at the Singapore Airshow in February this year setting out the project’s foundation and granting ‘Authorisation To Offer’ for the A330P2F.

ENFORCEMENT OF LASER PENALTIES BY FAA

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has directed its investigators and staff to pursue stiffer penalties for individuals who purposefully point laser devices at aircraft.This comes against the backdrop of increased laser pointing incidents.

BOEING TO TWEAK 737 MAX DESIGN

On the backdrop of few posts here on winglets and shark lets and effect on fuel saving and performance optimization,interesting bit of information from Seattle times article by Dominic Gates on Boeing considering  to tweak the design of its coming 737 MAX, the update to its workhorse single-aisle jet due in 2017, and has decided to increase the crucial engine-fan diameter from 68 to 69 inches.

DOWNWARD FACING WINGLETS

Aircraft designers have traditionally used winglets as a means to reduce induced drag and save on consequent fuel burn aka operating costs. Over the years several designs have emerged and the classic end plates and winglets are common in Boeing and airbus models. General aviation aircraft on the other hand have more innovative designs of winglets to enhance operational cost benefits.

While an equivalent increase in wingspan would be more effective than a winglet of the same length, the bending force becomes a greater factor.  Typically, a three-foot winglet has the same bending force as a one-foot increase in span, yet gives the same performance gain as a two-foot wing span increase.  For this reason, most designers have concentrated their efforts in winglets designs to reduce drag.

CITATION LONGITUDE

Citation Longitude

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. company, introduced its newest and longest-range business jet, the Citation Longitude at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE). This launch follows on the heels of Cessna’s announcement, just over six months ago, of the new Citation M2 and Citation Latitude.

KALMAN FILTER WITHOUT TEARS

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ne of the greatest theories postulated in the twentieth century is the Kalman Filter. It is not actually a filter, but a mathematical estimator, which uses a series of measurements observed over a period of time consisting of random variations ( noise) and other inaccuracies and produces estimates that tend to be more precise than what would be based on a single measurement.

The Kalman filter has numerous applications in technology. A common application is for guidance, navigation and control of vehicles, particularly aircraft and spacecraft.

Take for example the readings from a GPS receiver or the outputs of an IRS. The outputs are not always predictable and contain some errors which may be classified as random and systemic. The simplest solution that comes to mind is to take average of a series of consequent samples. This simple approach doesn’t work for most problems. We need a more sophisticated approach.

EU EMISSION ROW

Chinese and Indian airlines did not submit carbon-dioxide emissions data for 2011, disregarding European rules that seek to expand the region’s emissions trading system to include aviation. There has been “systematic non-reporting” of emissions to and from Europe from 10 airlines based in India and China, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

FUEL HEDGING

Fuel hedging is a contractual tool used by some airlines to stabilize jet fuel costs. A fuel hedge contract commits an airline to paying a pre-determined price for future jet fuel purchases. Airlines enter into such contracts as a bet that future jet fuel prices will be higher than current prices or to reduce the turbulence of confronting future expenses of unknown size. If the price of jet fuel falls and the airline hedged for a higher price, the airline will be forced to pay an above-market rate for jet fuel.(Wikipedia)

PERFORMANCE BASED NAVIGATION (PBN)

What is Performance Based Navigation(PBN) ?

Simply put, PBN means NO MORE GROUND AIDS based navigation.

PBN technology allows aircraft to fly precisely-defined flight paths without relying on ground-based radio-navigation signals. Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures, an advanced form of PBN technology, can be designed to shorten the distance an aircraft has to fly en-route, and to reduce fuel burn, exhaust emissions and noise pollution in communities near airports. Because of RNP's precision and reliability, the technology can help air traffic controllers reduce flight delays and alleviate air traffic congestion.

AIRCRAFT END-OF-LIFE

Where do aircraft go when they die? The global aviation sector is expanding at a rapid pace and by 2050; the industry could be handling some 16 billion travellers and 400 million tons of cargo annually. At some stage, maintenance, repair and upgrading become uneconomic and at this point the owner will consider taking the aircraft out of service. It is estimated that over 9,700 aircraft are to be permanently retired or withdrawn from service over the next 20 years. In many cases the retired airframe will contain valuable components and parts that can be returned to 
service.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS IN AIRCRAFT

B787 Fuselage section

Composite materials have been used in aviation and aircraft manufacturing for decades. There were used in civil and military aircraft primarily on secondary surfaces. What exactly are composite materials??