REAL-TIME FLIGHT DATA RECORDER (FDR) STREAMING

FLYHT’s Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRSTM) provides airlines with the ability
to capture and transmit data from their aircraft in real time. FLYHTStream, enabled by AFIRS, is
the only technology in the world capable of streaming Flight Data Recorder (FDR or Black Box)
information. Its primary purpose is to provide an alternate means of accessing the flight data
normally secured in the FDR. This data can then be used by the accident investigators to begin
investigating an air incident immediately or to provide an alternative in the event the FDR cannot
be recovered or the data has been compromised.

PROBLEM: FLYHT’s Aircraft Situational Display

Since 2009, at least four aircraft have gone missing on oceanic flights
resulting in public outcry and questions about the perceived technology lag
within aviation platforms compared to our completely connected lifestyles
while on the ground. The questions most commonly asked are; where is the
aircraft and what is its status? What is happening to it? In today’s world
of advanced connectivity, how can we lose an aircraft with hundreds of
people on board and not know what happened in a reasonable timeframe?
The amount of time and the cost to locate missing aircraft has varied, with
QZ8501 found in six days, and another, MH370, still missing more than
two years after it disappeared and at a search cost of over $130M US.
Regulators have provided recommendations for improved flight tracking,
though no legal mandates have been enacted to require airlines to stream
data in an emergency situation. FLYHT has a solution; FLYHTStream can
not only pinpoint the aircraft location, but provide enough data to help
answer the questions of what happened and why.
ACTIVATION
FLYHTStream can be activated three ways; automatically, as a result of the
technology’s ability to recognize a system abnormality or failure, manually
by the pilots through the use of an “event” button located in the flight deck,
or by the dispatcher at the airline.
FLYHTSTREAM CONSISTS OF THREE
MAIN COMPONENTS:
Alerting
Once activated, FLYHTStream provides the airline with audible as well as
visual alerts directly on the screens at the airline’s operation centre. Email
and text alerts are also configurable.
Tracking
Enabled by the Iridium satellite network, AFIRS provides FLYHT customers
with global flight tracking, no matter where they are traveling, including the
oceans and poles. Once activated, FLYHTStream automatically provides
the airline with enhanced 20 second flight follow reporting intervals, with
one second location resolution, which far exceed any current or future
government regulatory requirements.
Streaming
Once activated, AFIRS automatically begins the process of streaming
FDR data to the ground in real time where it is stored on a secure
FLYHT server and forwarded to a customer portal, according to their
configuration. FLYHT’s proprietary airborne software and ground support
network compress, transmit and expand the critical data where it is then
made available for analysis. The data provides the airline and accident
investigators with essential data about the aircraft and the situation in
order to reconstruct what was occurring during the streamed event.
Data can be fed into software to provide an animation of the status of the aircraft.
Animation images courtesy of Plane Sciences Inc.
FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. 300E, 1144 – 29th Avenue NE, Calgary, AB, T2E 7P1, Canada
Phone: 1.403.250.9956 Fax: 1.403.291.9717 Email: sales@flyht.com www.flyht.com
FAQS
Capital cost: The cost of the AFIRS solution is approximately
$50,000 US per aircraft.
Return on Investment (ROI): FLYHT’s customers buy AFIRS because
it allows them to operate more efficiently. Each customer has slightly
different requirements, so FLYHT’s data services are offered on a menu
basis, with total charges to an airline ranging from a few dollars to $15/
flight hour. AFIRS services would add less than 0.05%-0.2% to an airline’s
operating cost; however, the payback realized is always much greater than
the cost.
Cost of a streaming event: When AFIRS goes into streaming mode, the
cost is a maximum of $10/minute. An aircraft would not enter streaming
mode unless there was an emergency. In addition, typical emergencies
are resolved within one hour. In the event of a catastrophic event, FLYHT
would wave the cost of that streaming event.
Is there enough bandwidth to handle all aircraft? The mistaken
notion is that this solution would stream all the data from all the aircraft
all the time. Generally, only the essential parameters from the FDR
data is streamed and this occurs only during exceptional events. Also,
AFIRS technology is designed to bundle (or compress) the data and send
it in smaller packages. Once the data is in the terrestrial server, it is
decompressed for analysis. Bandwidth is not an issue.
Is the system secure? Where does the streamed data go and how
is it controlled? Yes, the data is secure and can not be tampered with.
The FDR data streamed from AFIRS is delivered to the UpTimeTM server
controlled by FLYHT. UpTime will store and forward the data to the airline
operations center or provide login access to the data, according to the
airline operator’s preference.