IRIDIUM WANTS TO SUPPLEMENT BLACK BOXES ON AIRLINES
Iridium offered FAA proposal to provide real-time cockpit voice and flight data monitoring system using satellites, company said Tues. Service would address national security concerns related to aircraft safety and control, Iridium said. It also could be deployed quickly using commercial “off-the-shelf” components along with 66-satellite Iridium constellation. Air safety has become major concern for FAA after terrorists hijacked 4 planes Sept. 11. “With existing systems, officials on the ground have only limited visibility into what is happening inside an aircraft in flight,” Iridium CEO Dan Colussy said. Using global footprint, voice and data capabilities, combined with commercially available equipment, he said ground personnel could receive “unrestricted access” to voice and data communications from aircraft. FAA spokeswoman said it was “considering all proposals that were coming in,” but agency didn’t have anything “definitive” to say about Iridium.
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NTSB has “no objections to systems” such as Iridium is proposing “as backup” to one currently in place, NTSB spokesman said: “This has come up before.” He said NTSB “doesn’t favor using these systems to replace onboard devices.” Before agreeing, “there are problems that would have to be resolved,” spokesman said. He said new system must: (1) Ensure global coverage. (2) Keep satellite transmissions from being intercepted. (3) Determine who will own and have access to data provided by satellite system.
Plan has “lots to offer” because of safety and redundancy, Aerospace Industries Assn. Space Policy Dir. Bruce Mahone told us: Iridium technology has “always been superb. It’s a very viable suggestion.” He said Iridium used similar concept to help track launches of NASA suborbital rockets that were “typically tracked by ground radar.” Mahone said Iridium successfully tracked rockets with transponder aboard rocket and “rockets travel a lot faster” than airplanes. “If it works for launchers, it will work for aircraft systems,” he said: “It can be used in conjunction with GPS to transmit all kinds of data.” He said Iridium system could be used with black boxes serving as backups.
Colussy told us “company was just beginning its efforts with the FAA.” He said FAA was presented with “a concept proposal, not a major proposal” to “supplement, not replace” black boxes. He said Iridium was pulling together data for task force and one of representatives had talked with Transportation Secy. Norman Mineta, but “we're not that far along.” He said proposed plan was “inexpensive,” with installation cost around $50,000 per airplane. Colussy also said similar voice system that’s FAA certified and built by Honeywell already was operational in some 50 planes: “We just want to make sure the FAA knows that this is available.” He said system would allow calls to go in and out of aircraft along with Internet connections.
Colussy claimed system being proposed would be major improvement to one now deployed by FAA and airlines. Currently, information captured on black boxes is available only after crashes and if boxes aren’t destroyed or can be found in wreckage. Since black boxes provide no information to ground control during flight, they cannot be used to intervene during emergency. Iridium proposal would transmit voice and data signals directly to secure FAA data centers for live monitoring.
Coupled with other security enhancements currently under review, Iridium plan could have “profound impact” on aircraft safety through its use and as deterrent, company said. Among benefits are ability to: (1) Provide immediate response in event of medical, terrorist or other in-flight emergency. (2) Initiate monitoring from ground or cockpit automatically when flight parameters are breached or continuously as part of basic flight operations. (3) Record voice and data operations during flight. (4) Initiate investigations in real time before recovery of cockpit voice and data recorders. (5) Use accumulated data to enhance aircraft safety, operating performance and efficiency through more timely maintenance and repair.
Industry official was skeptical of Iridium plan, saying it looked like “publicity stunt” to gain attention for company. “The basic characteristic of the FAA is they look for a very, very high degree of reliability,” he said. “With satellites, it would require redundancy. That has been the issue with GPS from the beginning.” He said Iridium system would have tough time meeting qualifications for proposed plan. “It’s a pretty frail system to begin with, and I don’t know if they have the capability to provide service to thousands of planes.”