Smoke Triggers More Diverted Flights Than Engine Problems

Air Safety Week, Oct 20, 2003

(Note: For a study hitting on the same themes done last year by aviation consulting firm Morten Beyer & Agnew, see ASW, Oct. 21, 2002) >> Shaw, e-mail jdshaw@compuserve.com <<

EROPS & Unscheduled Landings

* "Warning Indications" are the most common condition for unscheduled landings. Of these (cargo smoke, fluid loss, etc.), the most common cause was "smoke," making up 15 percent of the panoply of warnings leading to an unscheduled landing.

* Most events initiating unscheduled landings occurred during climb, but a large number - 39 percent - occur in cruise.

* When looking only at the cruise portion of flight, "smoke" events increased to more than 20 percent of all the initiating causes for unscheduled landings.

* Fully 54 percent of all smoke events that cause an unscheduled landing occur during cruise.

* During cruise, a smoke event is more than twice as likely to cause an unscheduled landing than an engine problem.

Source: Shaw

Video Smoke Detection

An ideal amalgamation of technologies? Security and smoke detection, to assuage the weight and cost challenges:

"Video smoke detection (VSD) is based on sophisticated computer analysis of the video image seen by a standard closed circuit television (CCTV) camera (sensor). Using advanced image-processing technology and extensive detection (and known false-alarm phenomena) algorithms, the VSD can automatically identify the distinct characteristics of smoke patterns. The fire detection industry has an abundance of known smoke signatures and all of these are built into the system to give an accurate decision on whether smoke is present. The VSD is so accurate in its analysis that it can even differentiate between steam and smoke. (ASW comment: for aviation, the steam vs. smoke capability would involve the ability to distinguish between oil-fumes in the air conditioning system and electrical smoke.)

"The VSD system uses standard CCTV equipment linked to a self-contained processing system which is capable of recognizing small amounts of smoke within the video image and alerting the system operator both at the processor and by a variety of remote outputs." (ASW note: "Remote outputs" could include the digital flight data recorder, DFDR.)

Source: http://www.designfire.com.au/detection_methods.htm

[Copyright 2003 PBI Media, LLC. All rights reserved.]