COCKPIT AVIONICS of Accident Causes

But Avidyne is also a hard- takes the airplane down to a enablers to prevent controlled ware manufacturer and has safe altitude in case of cabin flight into terrain,” said Greg worked on solving some of the decompression. “You hope you Plantz, SmartDeck director of difficult problems that result never need it,” he said, “but marketing and sales. Pilots need in accidents, especially LOC, knowing it’s there is quite the more than just an audio alert, currently at the top of the list peace of mind.” he said. “It’s one thing to see the COCKPIT AVIONICS of accident causes. A problem Taws display. But instead of say- with most autopilot systems is Simpler Interfaces ing ‘terrain,’ maybe ‘pull up four that they slavishly follow pilots’ Garmin is moving swiftly into degrees or turn left 20 degrees’ commands. As Schwinn pointed simplifying the way pilots inter- would be better.” Then the soft- Technology for the pilot’s sake out, in a typical general avia- act with avionics, starting with ware would monitor the pilot’s tion airplane, if the pilot selects touch control on its GTN-series actions to make sure the poten- What if technology could help pilots recover an airplane when it is clear (to the software) heading and altitude hold, then navigators and G2000 through tial danger has been averted. that the pilot’s actions are trending toward an accident? the power is cut, “it’s going to G5000 touchscreen-controlled “We’re developing a way for trim full aft and stall the air- flight decks. Voice control is also pilots and cockpits to interact to plane. This is not a good thing available now, via Garmin’s Teli- prevent loss of control and loss by Matt Thurber to do.” (Of course this can hap- gence system. Teligence currently of situational awareness,” said pen in larger airplanes, too.) allows pilots to control the GMA Patrick Champagne, vice presi- Avidyne’s DFC90/100 auto- 350 audio panel and is finding dent of cockpits and systems pilot includes envelope protec- a market in helicopters, where integration at CMC. “The brain Consider the Air France 447 and Colgan Air 3407 accidents. For the Colgan accident, tech- iPad’s internal gyros, acceler- beginning of what Laminar plans tion (EP) and envelope alerting pilots generally need to keep both of the pilot has not grown, but In the Air France accident, the Airbus A330 stalled into the ocean nology already exists and has ometers and GPS. The exter- for its artificial intelligence (AI) (EA). The alerting feature works hands on the controls. “It allows the density and complexity of from cruise altitude, following icing of the pitot sensors. The con- bubbled up from the lighter end nal AHRS works better, but cockpit aid. Next up is conflict whether or not the autopilot is the pilot to stay focused on fly- systems has. We need to make the sensus is that the pilots just needed to move the control stick for- of the market, in autopilots from even without the Levil unit, the alerting using ADS-B in sensors on, warning the pilot of exces- ing the aircraft,” said Jim Alpiser, right integration of information ward to unload the wing and the Airbus would have resumed flying. Avidyne and Garmin. Rock- iPhone/iPad’s sensors can pro- (weather and traffic) and Aspen’s sive bank, overspeed or if the air- director of aviation aftermarket to point out to [the pilot] the rel- In the Colgan accident, the pilots failed to add power after their well Collins is developing a loiter vide usable guidance, according Connected Panel as a data source plane is slowing below 1.2 Vso. sales, “and worry less about inter- evant stuff.” To that end, CMC Dash 8-400 slowed while leveling off during approach. The Dash mode that could help. “Step one to Laminar Avionics, as long as for engine problems. “All of these With EP, the autopilot will keep acting with the avionics.” has been working with the Cana- into the future,” said Bob Ellis, pitch and bank are kept within things and much, much more are the airplane within a safe flying “We think there are tremen- dian military to help pilots with 8 was on autopilot, and the autopilot kicked off when it reached Rockwell Collins director of certain parameters and the air- in the works,” according to Lam- envelope if those parameters are dous opportunities to reduce safe cockpit automation pro- a limit, handing the pilots an airplane that was about to go out flight information solutions mar- plane is flown steadily. inar, “with the underlying rule exceeded. In the case of leveling pilot workload, increase situa- cedures. “If this happened,” he of control. Investigators concluded that the captain reacted incor- keting, “are developments occur- During flight, Xavion contin- that all information is assessed off without adding power, EP tional awareness and go a long said, “this is how the automation rectly, and the Dash 8 stalled and crashed. ring today in the area of flight uously calculates the airplane’s by the AI and presented in the would simply allow the airplane’s way to making [flying] safer,” reacts and this is what the pilot In both cases, the pilots were not ready for what happened, and control modes, particularly in gliding capability, and the display most user-friendly format, just as AOA to decrease to maintain 1.2 said Stone. should be doing. Is there some- they did not figure out what was wrong in time to prevent an acci- single-pilot operations or [in the is color-coded to show not only a good copilot would present that Vso and not let the airplane stall. In a facility in Ottawa, Can- thing that the cockpit could sug- dent. Also, it is assumed that the airplane designers didn’t antici- event of an] incapacitated crew- the area within gliding range information to you.” Avidyne’s autopilots also ada, a team of about 15 experts gest to him to help him under- pate those occurrences or the way the pilots reacted. No designer member.” If the pilot loses spatial but also the airports that can be offer an unusual attitude is thinking through all these stand better? The availability of awareness, for example, pushing reached without power (green). Key Information recovery button that levels issues to help Esterline CMC data is just one factor; know- can anticipate every way that a system or a pilot can mess up. But the loiter mode button automati- Airports on the edge of gliding All the data already flow- the wings, zeroes out the pitch Electronics develop new prod- ing what to look for–a relation what if technology could help the pilot rescue the situation when cally flies the airplane away from range are yellow, and red airports ing through modern avionics and maintains airspeed within ucts that meet the safety and between variables–is important.” it is clear (to the software) that the pilot isn’t about to resolve the the navigation track and into a are beyond reach. systems is the key to enhancing a safe range. This button can usability needs of modern pilots. The ultimate goal is what problem? If this is even possible, does it make sense? And, what holding pattern. “It allows the In case of an engine failure, safety, assuming this data can even recover control of an air- CMC product director of would something like this look like in practice? crew to get ahead of the aircraft,” pushing the red “Hoops” button be captured and used, according plane from an inverted attitude, advanced vision systems Marc

To answer these questions, AIN interviewed avionics manufac- he said. “We’ll see this in air- shows a path defined by hoops to Dan Schwinn, president and according to Schwinn. Bouliane calls an enhanced situa- GARMIN turers and asked how their products can help pilots and also what planes in the near term.” (like highway-in-the-sky) that CEO of Avidyne. An example Garmin has developed the tion display. This display, he said, Garmin’s ESP works with the autopilot on or off and assists the pilot in maintaining a safe pitch and roll attitude and airspeed, including low-speed protection. developments in their back-room laboratories are under way to Also promising are systems lead to the runway end. A bug on is the Connected Panel system electronic stability and protec- “really talks to the pilot’s being that can guide or fly an airplane the speed indicator is set to what developed by Aspen Avionics, tion (ESP) system. ESP works able to see at the right time what address these problems. from the point of total engine Laminar calls “nominal glide” which allows avionics data to with the autopilot on or off he needs to see. Whether it’s 2-D data at pilots isn’t conducive because they can be delivered failure to the end of the near- speed, which is halfway between be delivered to external devices and helps the pilot maintain a nav, terrain charts with FMS, to safety, and Aspen and Con- much faster because no certifica- est runway. “We’re looking at an best glide and worst glide config- such as an iPad, which can then safe pitch and roll attitude and synthetic and enhanced vision, nected Panel partners are work- tion is involved. Aspen’s Hayden Simple Solutions? Instead of adding yet more algorithm,” said Matt Carrico, urations. An energy meter shows leverage that data for other uses. airspeed, including low-speed the whole package is how do we ing on delivering useful infor- suggested a product that uses Imagine, in the case of Air alerts and more confusion to the Rockwell Collins senior engi- whether the aircraft needs more Avidyne is a Connected Panel protection. Some Garmin- Rockwell Collins is developing surface enhance the pilot’s view? We’re mation. The idea is not just to onboard data sent to an iPad to France 447, that the avionics cockpit, why not blank all the neering manager of advanced or less energy to make the end of partner and is working on new equipped airplanes include a lvl guidance cues that are integrated on the in the early days of taking those create an app for pilots but also record flight parameters, a sort were designed such that in a loss- screens and present only infor- concepts, “that, in the rare event the runway safely. products that will apply avionics button on the autopilot control- Head-up Guidance System for enhanced and starting to marry their out- to allow pilots to customize the of inexpensive flight operational ground operations. of-control (LOC) situation, the mation that will help the pilots? of a dual engine failure, could The Xavion app is just the data to safety solutions. ler, which automatically rolls the put into an enhanced display.” app to match their needs for quality assurance (FOQA) sys- . pilots are presented with a sim- For Air France 447, could a sim- give pilots as much guidance as airplane level and holds altitude, “There’s a lot of potential each phase of flight. tem that would be ideal for flight . ple graphic showing the exact ple exocentric (outside) view of possible. We can automatically giving pilots time to recover after to make big improvements,” Connecting the Data Aspen isn’t the only com- schools and fleet operators that attitude of the airplane. During the airplane and its attitude have compute the most efficient flight losing spatial orientation. ESP is said Dave McKay, manager of Aspen Avionics is well aware pany connecting iPads to avi- don’t want to pay tens of thou- the four or so minutes that Air helped the pilots realize that the path and glidepath to the near- available on Garmin-equipped advanced systems. But there is a that the glut of information avail- onics data. DAC International’s sands of dollars for traditional France 447 was held in a stall airplane was in a stall? est runway and give flight-direc- Cirruses and King Airs with the caveat: so much information is able to pilots presents a problem. GDC64 offers four Arinc 429 FOQA equipment and analysis. www.ainonline.com until it hit the ocean, the pilots This technology already tor cues to the pilots so they have G1000 upgrade and upcoming available that designers need to be The company’s Connected Panel ports delivering avionics data to An iPad app called CloudAhoy www.ainonline.com were faced with a vast array of exists, although it isn’t employed mental time for other tasks.” Garmin flight decks. “There’s no careful what they throw at pilots. system pulls data from installed portable devices. Guardian Avi- offers a glimpse into this future, information, both visual and for this particular use. Univer- Rockwell Collins has run additional hardware involved,” “Look at all these technologies,” avionics and also allows pilots onics makes a device that wire- although it uses only GPS data aural, which may have added to sal Avionics, which was an early the US Airways Hudson River said Bill Stone, Garmin avionics he said. “What I as an interface to input flight-planning infor- lessly transmits GPS data from to record flights for later analysis. the confusion. adopter of synthetic vision tech- ditching sequence using this product manager. “It uses the designer want to do is not what mation and set radio frequen- installed avionics to mobile In another example, the crew nology on its EFI-890 display, algorithm and found that it data in autopilot servos. Part of is fairly easy, to overwhelm the cies using an iPad. “That’s what devices. Avionics Systems & Human Factors Factor flying a Qantas A380 after an offers pilots an exocentric view would have been possible for our philosophy is how to create pilot. Before pilots had access to Connected Panel is all about,” Integration Group and Shadin One element remains critical uncontained engine failure that is also an accurate repre- the pilots to make it to a run- a safer, more efficient environ- all this data, how to train them said Brad Hayden, Aspen vice are collaborating on the fly- in the future of avionics develop- after takeoff from Singapore sentation of the aircraft’s atti- way after losing both engines ment for the pilot to work in.” was fairly straightforward. You president of marketing. “It’s the Tab avionics interface module, ment, and that is human factors. on Nov. 2, 2010, complained tude. One possibility would be to bird strikes, had they known Another example of capi- can’t put complex systems in front power of being able to bridge the which sends Arinc 429 and Mil Just because technology offers about the barrage of warnings to add symbology that shows exactly where to turn and done talizing on existing hardware of them without making it abun- uncertified and certified data. Std 1553 data to iPads. CMC more capability doesn’t mean and other information stream- actual angle-of-attack (AOA) so immediately. is Garmin’s emergency descent dantly apparent that they have to You start having the horsepower PilotView electronic flight bags that pilots can easily make use ing at them. As captain Richard and color to indicate a stall Laminar Avionics’s $99 mode, which is a feature on the understand how it works. Other- of being able to use this uncerti- can capture avionics data via the of that capability or know what de Crespigny wrote in his book, AOA. Could an exocentric dis- Xavion app was released in G1000-equipped Cessna Mus- wise it’s just too overwhelming.” fied platform [the iPad] and data company’s Tandem software. to do when the technology fails. QF32, “We had to deal with con- play have helped the Air France November and works either with tang and on the new Learjet CMC is developing touch- from behind the panel. We’re Making all this data avail- Many of the shortcomings MATT THURBER MATT tinual alarms sounding, a sea of pilots? Setting up the sequence an external AHRS from Levil 70/75. This capability is now screen and voice control features providing the bridge: increased able to mobile devices offers that have resulted in accidents Universal Avionics, which was an early adopter of synthetic vision technology on its red lights and seemingly never- in a simulator and testing it on Technology ($795) and an exter- EFI-890 display, offers pilots an exocentric view that is also an accurate representation common on larger business jets on its SmartDeck cockpit. “We access to relevant information.” many new opportunities for are being addressed successfully, ending ECAM checklists.” pilots could provide the answer. nal GPS or using the iPhone/ and automatically and swiftly feel they are going to be great But just throwing more unique products, especially © 2012 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to of the aircraft’s attitude. Could such a view help show that the aircraft is in a stall? Continues on next page u © 2012 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to

46 Aviation International News • January 2013 • www.ainonline.com www.ainonline.com • January 2013 • Aviation International News 47 highly saturated.” But the sys- COCKPIT AVIONICS tem needs to know when the pilot is saturated, so Honeywell Technology for the pilot’s sake has done research on evaluating flight-crew overload. “Cortical u Continued from preceding page activity goes up as more cog- nitive effort is required to per- form a particular task,” he said. according to Ratan Khatwa, Human factors, said “We’re able to measure it fairly Honeywell senior chief engi- Khatwa, “are a huge part of accurately.” While this is easy neer, human factors, includ- the challenge. Today we see a to do by placing a brain wave- ing controlled flight into terrain physical control panel. Now measuring cap on a pilot’s head, (EGPWS), turbulence detection we’ve got touchscreens. How do that’s not likely to work in real (RDR 4000) and runway incur- you make sure that the equiva- life. Khatwa said that further sions and excursions (SmartRun- lent set of controls [is available testing has been done by mea- way and Raas). The challenge as] on a hard panel, and how suring pupil diameter using eye now, he said, “is superior integra- do you make sure the interface trackers. “We’re inferring cog- tion of information on the flight isn’t opaque? You don’t want to nitive state from non-invasive The Rockwell Collins Fusion system is targeted at a wide sector of the market, from deck, and [providing] additional bury [important information] sensors. The challenge is to do single-engine turboprops and light jets to Part 25 jets. Collins engineers are studying safety to the flight crew.” three or four layers down in the that outside the confines of a how avionics can prevent accidents by guiding the pilot or controlling the aircraft. Don Bateman, who con- menu. Anything critical has to pristine lab environment. We’re ceived the ground proximity be at the top level.” talking way into the future.” ics can easily show the location “We cannot design the system warning system (GPWS), out- In addition to touchscreens, “We have the ability to pro- of other aircraft and ground thinking that training will com- lined some new-technology Khatwa sees voice control as a vide more data than a person vehicles, but do we really want pensate for things that do not areas that Honeywell is explor- key interface. And, he added, can ideally work with,” said pilots looking down at a dis- work so well.” ing. These include more use of “The provision of larger pan- Mike Glover, director of Inno- play and not outside while taxi- Second, he added, is design- AOA information, such as a oramic displays is going to play vative Solutions & Support’s ing? With its Head-up Guid- ing safety nets around the tech- voice warning to the pilot before a bigger role in tomorrow’s Atlanta region office. IS&S ance Systems head-up display nology. The loiter mode devel- the stick shaker activates; wake flight deck.” But the principal makes the avionics suite for the (HUD) technology, Rockwell oped by Rockwell Collins is one turbulence indicators, now that question remains, he explained. Eclipse 500/550 as well as retro- Collins can put such informa- such example of “something more aircraft are squeezing into “What do you automate, when fits for Boeing 757, 767 and 737 tion on the HUD, in the pilot’s that will, depending on the ever tighter blocks of airspace; and what level of automation Classics and military programs. view through the windshield. attitude of the aircraft, avoid and a takeoff acceleration mon- do you use? That’s the next level, The IS&S approach is to add “That’s an example of where crashing in controlled flight and itor that measures real-time how do you better share the task new safety features via built-in onboard avionics can play a sig- bring it to a safe attitude.” conditions in case dispatchers between man and machine?” EFB software that displays on nificant role in helping the pilot Most important is design- calculate weight-and-balance the flight deck’s MFD instead prevent and detect a blunder on ing the flight deck so that fail- and performance incorrectly. Workload Reduction of on a separate device. “There’s the ground,” said senior engi- ures are avoided, and this is Honeywell has also looked at While Honeywell human- no additional hardware incor- neering manager Carrico. the focus on the Odicis effort an automatic pull-up system to factors research is looking at porated; it’s part of the design Beyond that, he added, are under way by Thales and other recover control of an airplane in the intelligent assistant concept, of the system,” he said. explorations into the nature partners. “In Odicis,” Bon- trouble, although “pilots don’t the key to making that work, Because the Eclipse is usually of how pilots and automated net explained, “the technology like the airplane being taken said Khatwa, “is to reduce flown by one pilot, IS&S designs systems interact. “What are allows the cockpit to be always from them,” he noted. pilot workload when the crew is for that case. “As more capabil- degraded modes of operation,” available. There’s no need to ity exists, especially in single- he asked, “and how can automa- learn to fly with a standby pilot aircraft, we’re going to tion be designed to degrade more instrument.” In other words, need more logic in the architec- gracefully so that we don’t dump the interface always remains ture to be able to assist pilots,” into the pilot’s lap an airplane the same, no matter how much Glover explained. that is horribly mis-trimmed? the underlying technology fails We’re looking at a more holis- or degrades. In the Odicis cock- Accident Prevention tic view of automation, with pit, there is no primary and no Rockwell Collins design- better architecture and a better standby, just the same cockpit. ers are looking at how avion- human-machine interface that Or as Bonnet put it, “Having ics can help prevent accidents, will degrade and upgrade in a a primary mode maintained as either by showing some infor- more predictable fashion.” long as possible, and rich back- mation to pilots or even con- ups that bring in front of your . trolling the aircraft if necessary. Failure-free Flight Deck eyes an image that looks exactly An example of where this might “Designing the cockpit for its like the one you would have show up is in airport operations, crew is a huge challenge now,” with nominal systems.” which continue to present haz- said Denis Bonnet, vice presi- Thales and the Odicis team ards. Using information derived dent for technical development are working with regulators, www.ainonline.com Innovative Solutions & Support supplies a retrofit avionics suite, below, for the Boeing from ADS-B out, synthetic and for Thales’s avionics division. who understand that human- 757/767/737 Classics and military programs as well as the cockpit avionics suite for the enhanced vision systems, avion- “We need to account for the fact factors issues need more atten- Eclipse 500/550. Further details of the IS&S displays are shown above. that we have a human being in tion, according to Bonnet. “Just front of us, not only a machine.” saying [that] human errors are Interfaces must focus on the problem is not enough. We the tasks that a pilot needs to need to find ways to reduce this achieve, Bonnet explained, human error, whether by train- whether that’s looking outside ing or better interfaces. And because the weather is good we have to face the nature of or managing a mission with- human beings. There is a com- out having to know the under- mon understanding and shared lying technology that makes vision about this.” o that possible, while at the same time using familiar interfaces that don’t change as the mission changes. “We also need to take

48 Aviation International News • January 2013 • www.ainonline.com