Air Safety Week: The Tenerife 30th Anniversary And A Technology Gear-shift

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The Tenerife 30th Anniversary And A Technology Gear-shift

The NTSB held a March 27 runway incursion seminar to mark the exact 30th anniversary of the runway collision in 1977 between two jumbo jets at Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife, Canary Islands.

That accident took the lives of 583 people on board two 747s, operated by Pan American World Airways and KLM. The accident still has the highest number of fatalities (excluding ground fatalities) of any single accident in aviation history. Capt. Robert Bragg, the Pan Am co-pilot that day, attended the forum and related his experiences.

It was also an appropriate point in time for the FAA to make an announcement about a new measure that should help pilots navigate the maze of taxiways and runways, particularly ones with which they're unfamiliar. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said on March 23 that her agency will have new rules in place by the end of April to allow airlines to install satellite-based Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) technology for use while planes are on the ground.

The EFB is an electronic display system that gives pilots information about a variety of aviation data. They range from laptop-like devices totally independent of the aircraft that can be used on planes across the existing fleet, to high-end displays permanently installed and fully integrated into the airplane's cockpit in newer aircraft.

The FAA is focusing on a third type of device, referred to as a "Class 2 system" that is still portable but takes its power and data directly from aircraft systems. The situation to date has been reflected in para 7c: of AC120- 76A, of March, 17, 2003, covering Electronic Flight Bags:

"c. Own-Ship Position. This AC, by itself, may not be used to install own-ship position on moving maps on Class 1 and 2 EFB systems. However, as new guidance is developed, it may be used in combination with this AC to add additional applications."

The intent of the device is to reduce the instances in which taxiing aircraft accidentally stray onto runways without clearance, creating the danger of a collision. Such incidents, known as runway incursions, have dropped from 381 in 2001 to 336 in 2005, and the number of the most serious incidents has also dropped.

The portable laptop device that the FAA is encouraging airlines to install would enable a pilot to retrieve data that would show the schematic layout of an airport and the location of his own plane, as indicated by a small diamond in center-screen. It's an Airport Moving Map.

Tests have shown that rather than pilots staring mindlessly at the laptop's screen, they tend to safely and continually cross-refer the indicated position to the real world outside, thus enhancing their look-out scan. The laptops already exist and the FAA is counting upon their widespread use forcing the price down to more reasonable levels. It's not a breakthrough though.

In October 2003, Boeing delivered the first of 10 B777-200s to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines equipped with a moving map display. Known as Taxi Position Awareness (TPA), the feature is part of the Jeppesen Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) that was installed in the airplane.

PIA was next cab off the rank with that technology. TPA is a tool that assists the crew in confirming they are indeed where they are supposed to be, which may help prevent pilots from taking off on closed runways, as occurred in the fatal October 2000 crash of a Singapore Airlines B747 (see ASW, May 6, 2002).

The TPA display is that of advisory information, not guidance. The FAA's "initiative" is a catch-up and a catch-cry to prove that it is reacting to the imminent peril of yet another horrendous runway collision.

It's long been recognized that a major problem with runway incursions are the confusing and difficult-to-see runway markings. Proliferating signage is also a pitfall.

It is definitely a mature system whose time has come. Honeywell's version will cost around $18K per unit, but its capabilities will fall short of what's possible, including that of its own Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS). Meanwhile, Mercury Computer Systems says it's nearing completion of a class-2 EFB system that will include synthetic vision capabilities.

According to preliminary information from Mercury, the system will include "superior" graphics processing capabilities, and a dedicated accelerator designed to seamlessly run graphics-intensive applications, one of which would be its VistaNav 3D synthetic vision system (see tinyurl.com/2u7d6a ) that will be packaged with a built-in ARS (attitude reference system) and GPS/ WAAS (wide area augmentation system).

The EFB will feature a touch-screen display with built-in avionics-style hard buttons, and an emergency battery backup. Formal unveiling, with detailed pricing and specifications, is planned for April.

Last August, the crew of a Comair regional jet trying to take off in Lexington, Ky., picked the wrong runway, which was too short. The jet overran and crashed, killing 49 of the 50 people on board. The new laptop tool should help avoid that type of deadly error. However, without true ADS-B capability, it's doubtful aircraft will be able to taxi in or out in zero-zero visibility.

Why? Well, you would need ADS-B's mutualized traffic inputs to let you know who might be coming the other way or about to cross in front, and there will still be the requirement to correlate the position shown with the world outside the cockpit. The safety board had called for development of a system that would warn pilots in their cockpits of impending collisions on the ground.

The new tool can't achieve that but the FAA sees the interim solution as being an affordable compromise and has now fast-tracked the certification process for the on-ground "own ship" function of a Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag. In addition to Honeywell, both Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems and Jeppesen Sanderson will produce the devices.

The FAA's Director of Aircraft Certification, John Hickey, says, "This type of device will give pilots so much more situational awareness [on the ground] than you have today."

Regional Airline Assn. VP-Technical Services David Lotterer points out that pilot training is critical. "With all this technology, let's not forget the pilots," he said, noting that RAA "supports the FAA with going forward" on moving map displays. Lotterer then complained of a "major disconnect between actual airport layouts and maps provided by charting suppliers. . .The use of moving maps lacks credibility unless the charting improves."

For the FAA, the gap-filler fix is also a tacit admission that it realizes that the next accident could be on the ground. In fact, given the near- misses to date, as disclosed at the NTSB's forum, one is clearly overdue.

A note of caution is called for. Speaking last week in Washington at the National Transportation Safety Board Runway Incursion Forum, Air Transport Assn. Director-Safety Mont Smith said: "It's a great technology. . .but the question is where are we going to put it in the cockpit and what's it going to look like?"

We agree. A Brazilian aviation journalist theorized that in the Sept. 29, 2006 GOL 737/Legacy 600 collision, a laptop tool may have played a part in the collision.

Citing inside knowledge of what the Legacy pilots were doing to try and resolve their communications problems, the journalist suggested that the pilots had the laptop on the center console and that by opening the lid (to see the screen and check frequencies), the lid may have tapped the pushbutton alongside (and within) the Primus display's RHS control array that turns off the transponder.

The lid was at about the right height to do so. It was further theorized that the lid (i.e., the screen) then hid the TXPDR's status light. The Legacy pilots may know, but it's also the sort of theory that only a cockpit camera could confirm.