Running head: AIRLINE CONTINGENCY SYSTEM 1

Airline Contingency System

Name
Institution
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Airline Contingency System Individual Proposal Submission

Concept and Vision
In the last two decades, the aviation industry has witnessed some of the major air crashes
in the history of mankind, which have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people airplane
passengers across the board. 2014 and 2015 period, particularly was a dark period for the
aviation industry; it was headlined by the mysterious disappearance of AirAsia flight 8501
between Indonesia and Singapore, whos supposed debris were later discovered the following
day. The aircraft pilot radioed air control to request permission to divert around a region of
extreme bad weather but never issued a mayday alert (BBC, 2015). In this incidence alone, the
crew and 162 passengers on board the plane all disappeared, never to be seen to-date. In July of
the same year, another aircraft operated by Spains Swiftair that was heading for Algiers, Air
Algiers AH5017, which had carried more than 116 passengers disappeared over Mali as a result
of poor weather. In this instance as well, over 100 passengers and Crew members on-board lost
their lives. That Same year, 2014, in February, in March, and in July, three different aircraft
crashes were reported, two commercial plains as well as one military transport plane, all crashed
resulting in the death of more than 600 passengers and crew members (BBC, 2015).
First forward to March 2015; Airbus 320 operated by Germanwings crashes in the French
Alps near Digne claiming the life of 148 passengers. In June, A military airplane transporting
military personnel crashes in Medan killing 122 people. Most recently, in October, 2015, Russian
Airline Kogalymavia crashes in central Sinai killing all the 224 passengers on board (BBC,
2015). It is clear that air crash disasters have become too many in the past two decades and have
claimed many lives. It is also true that there have been tremendous investment and efforts made
by government agencies as well as private firms towards reducing the likelihood of air crashes
and thus save lives. Most notably, a lot of investments have gone towards improving the security
of aircrafts and ensure that mechanical and human error, which were once the leading cause of
air crashes, are reduced to prevent air crash disasters (TSB Canada, 2013). Further, there have
also been tremendous efforts and investment put towards designing and developing better
aircrafts that can withstand or rather survive the harsh conditions prevented by mother nature,
which have, according to previous air crash investigations, been attributed to a majority of
airplane crashes.
However, it is difficult to disregard the inevitability of some of the report air crashes,
especially those cause by bad weather or engine failure. In fact, analysts claim that, although
some air crash disasters in the past could have been avoided, air crash accidents, just like any
other accidents, cannot be avoided in totality; they can just be minimized. This bitter truth and
fact has evoked a rather different discussion around the minimization of the effects of such
inevitable disasters, particularly the death of life. It is where the aircraft emergency evacuation or
contingency industry emerged from. Various technologies around aircraft emergency evacuation
and contingency systems have been developed in the past two decades or so. For instance, there
is the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, GCAS, which was designed and
developed by the United Sates Air force, since the 80s (Grady, 2015). It is a software upgrade
that modifies the airplanes digital flight control system and advanced data transfer machinery,
which monitors altitude, speed, and attitude. If these parameters indicate the likelihood of a
crash, an autopilot command is triggered which auto-pilots the plane to safe flight. This is a
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technology that if it was extensively in use, could have prevented the recent crash of the
Germanwings Airbus A320 into the Alps killing 150 people (Grady, 2015).
Similarly, there are other emergency evacuation systems currently in use that help in the
evacuation of passengers to a safe place during aircraft emergencies. Most of these equipment or
systems are often only used while the plane is on the ground. They include sliders, pressurized
life jackets, and in the case of military aircrafts, parachutes, as well as helicopter floaters.
However, there is no technology that has been developed to help evacuate passengers from a
commercial plane mid-air seconds or minutes before a plane crashes (Es & Post, 2008). There
have been proposal of using parachutes to evacuate both the crew and passengers in an
emergency mid-air; however, the fact that most passengers are untrained to use parachutes and
the fact that air crashes or disasters happen within a very short period of time have resulted in the
ruling out of such ideas. Furthermore, specialist have argued that controlling the panic during an
emergency that would enable passengers to safely parachute out of the plane in an orderly manner
is very difficult for a passenger plane of more than 100 people. Additionally, the difficulty and
risk of opening the exit door of a pressurized aircraft more than 12000 feet above ground makes
the suggestion of using parachute one that cannot be viable for commercial planes. This is the
challenge that needs to be addressed. It is the real gap in the aviation emergency evacuation and
contingency micro-market that needs to be filled (Escoffier, 2010).
The technology being proposed is the design and development of an aircraft contingency
system. A rather new proprietary system that utilizes the parachute technology in a larger scale;
much more like the helicopter floater. This proposed contingency system will be an automated
system just as the Auto-GCAS, and will monitor certain parameters to determine the likelihood
of an air crash or an emergency that will require immediate passenger evacuation from thousands
of feet above the grounds. The proposed aircraft contingency system will be much more like
large air inflated safety bus that automatically separates from an aircraft pending a disaster or
crash, and safely floats passengers to the ground. This is a totally new technology that will
require substantial monetary investment to realize as well as regulation and procedure change to
implement; all of which will be worth the effort considering the number of lives that will be
saved in the process.
Tentative Market Analysis
The target of this technology is the aviation industry as a whole, specifically, the
emergency evacuation and contingency micro-market. Recent data on aircraft crashes, panning
the last two decades, makes a compelling case for the need of a contingency system that can
facilitate mid-air mass evacuation of passenger from an aircraft that is about to crash.
Emergency Aircraft Evacuation and Contingency Systems and its peer markets such as Safety
and Security Systems, Communication System, Landing Assembly, Instruments and Indicators,
Cabin interiors, Fluid Power, Aircraft Lights, and Navigational Aids, and 8 other markets make
up the entire Aircraft Systems Market (Micro-Market Monitor, 2015). The Emergency Aircraft
Evacuation and Contingency Systems Market can be segmented by geography, companies,
micro-indicators, and components. The micro-indicators in the market are the GDPs. This
markets geographies include North America, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa,
and the Asia Pacific. The major players in this market; key companies, include UTC Aerospace
Systems, Zodiac Aerospace, Inc., Megitt PLC, Emteq, Inc., Ikusi, and Hamilton Sundstrand.
Zodiac and UTC Aerospace have the lion-share of the market and have dominated this market
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ever since. The components in this market include Emergency Lighting, Evacuation Systems,
Emergency Beacon Transmitter, Seat Belt, Emergency Oxygen Mask, Fire Detection System,
and Lightning Protector. The Airline Contingency System being proposed will be a new entrant
into this market (Micro-Market Monitor, 2015).
Over the last three years, this market has significantly grown in terms of revenue and
capitalization, especially, as more and more airline industry enter the market all over the globe.
Particularly, the expansion of the budget or low-cost, low-fare airline service into emerging
markets such as Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific. In fact, the two major Aircraft
manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, have seen their sales in the last five years almost double
(Escoffier, 2010). With the obvious need for more advanced emergency evacuation and
contingency systems, as well as safety and security systems, particularly with regards to the
increase in the number of air crashes and the ever-growing threat of terrorism, there is more
room for potential growth. The market size is bound to get bigger and bigger.
Customers and Customer Development
It is clear that the biggest customer base that this system will serve is the commercial
airline industry. As has been indicate, there is an urgent need for advanced, safe, and reliable
aircraft emergency mid-air evacuation system. This is what aircraft contingency system will
provide. Currently, no such system exists in the commercial airline industry. The need to reduce
the loss of life in inevitable airline disasters has never been greater; it is important for the airline
industry to reassure its customer that air-travel, the fastest and most expansive mode of travel, is
safe, and can be relied upon. Most emergency evacuation systems currently in the market go for
relatively cheaper price ranging from $5,000 upwards (Micro-Market Monitor, 2015). Thus, it is
important, put into consideration all the production costs and expenses, to price the system at a
relatively cheap but competitive price.
Competition and Position
Currently, major player in this micro-market are Zodiac Aerospace and UTC Aerospace
Systems; however, it is important to note that none of them offers an advanced automatic mid-air
emergency evacuations system (Escoffier, 2010). All these players only offer normal evacuation
systems including ground evacuation systems such as sliders and pressurized life saver jackets
for commercials airlines, as well as helicopter floaters and parachutes for the military. Given that
this is a new component or product entering the market to server a very specific need, there is no
competition. The only challenge, however, will be entry into the market given that this is a
highly regulated industry; thus, this product/system must be approved by the various regional
regulators; particularly, the FAA. Further, in order starve off potential competition, there will be
need to partner with the major aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, so that the Aircraft
Contingency System is in-built into the air craft upon manufacturing.
Business Model
In order to turn this grand idea into a viable business, the first step would be to build a
prototype and subject it to testing to ensure that it adheres to industry standards for safety. In the
same breath, given that this is an original idea, it will be important to protect the idea as an
intellectual property right, as well as patent it as an original innovation. The next step will
involving rigorous testing and modifications of the design of the product so as to perfect it (Ries,
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2011). It is important to note that, the prototype of the system will first be shown to potential
customers at an early stage in order to understand whether it is something that they require.
Progressively, valuable lessons in terms of the needs of the customer, product modifications, as
well as expected industry standards will be learned throughout the process. The safety, usability,
and efficiency of the system technical aspects - must be tested right away. This product will be
expected to enter the market after 3 years, depending on how first the system passes the
necessary tests and is approved for use by various regional industry regulators.
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References
BBC. (2015, November). Air disasters timeline: A chronology of major air disasters since 1998.

BBC News. London. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-10785301

Es, G. van, & Post, H. (2008). Analysis of Evacuatio-slide Problems Calls Attention to Recurrent

Issues. Cabin Crew Safety, 40(3).

Escoffier, R. (2010). Preliminary Study on Aircraft Evacuation Systems Aging. Paris.

Grady, M. (2015). This Air Force Tech Couldve Averted the Germanwings Crash. Retrieved

November 16, 2015, from http://www.wired.com/2015/04/air-force-tech-couldve-averted-

germanwings-crash/

Micro-Market Monitor. (2015). Global Safety and Security Systems Market Research Report.

Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/market-

report/safety-and-security-systems-reports-1625676902.html

Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup: How Todays Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to

Create Radically Successful Businesses (1st ed.). New York: Crown Business.

TSB Canada. (2013). A SAFETY STUDY OF EVACUATIONS OF LARGE, PASSENGER-

CARRYING AIRCRAFT. Ontario, Canada.