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Aviation History
1991
1991 - 2037.PDF
piumxnr INTERNATIONAL Editorial Enquiries +44 (81) 661 3842 Editorial Fax +44 (81) 661 3840 Display Advertising +44 (81) 661 3315 Display Advertising Fax +44 (81) 661 8981 Classified Advertising +44 (81) 661 6373 Classified Advertising Fax +44 (81) 642 4431 Telex 892084 REEDBP G Subscriptions +44 (81) 649 7271 Back issues (recent copies only) +44 (81) 661 3315 Picture Library +44 (81) 661 3427 Flight Directories +44 (707) 46952 USA Newstrade Sales Enquiries 800 345 6478 LONDON Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK Editor Allan Winn +44 (81) 661 3882 Editor's PA Jacqueline Worsiey +44 (81) 661 3882 Deputy Editor Forbes Mulch +44 (81) 661 3852 News Editor Andrew Chuter +44 (81) 661 3843 Features Editor David Learmount +44 (81) 661 3845 Military Editor Mike Gaines +44 (81) 661 8809 Air Transport Editor Ian Goold +44 (81) 661 3834 Technology Editor Simon Elliott +44 (81) 661 3838 Reporter Alan Postlethwaite +44 (81) 661 3839 Datahases Editor Tom Hamill +44 (81) 661 3096 Editorial Assistant Kate Sarslield +44 (81) 661 3842 Art Editor Colin Paine +44 (81) 661 3850 Layout Artist Mike Wells +44 (81) 661 3828 Sub-editor Annabel Goddard +44 (81) 661 3848 Layout Sub-editor Jenny Long +44 (81) 661 3847 Technical Artist Tim Hall +44 (81) 661 8047 Technical Artist David Hatchard +44 (81) 661 8047 Technical Artist John Marsden +44 (81) 661 8054 Spaceflight Correspondent Tim Furniss +44 (237) 451756 Fax +44 (237) 451600 Photographer (Europe) Mark Wagner +44 (272) 358200 Fax +44 (272) 358290 Display Advertisement Sales Sales Manager Clive Richardson +44 (81) 661 3315 Assistant Sales Manager Nick Wilcox +44 (81) 661 3892 Senior Sales Executive Janice Lowe +44 (81) 661 3316 Advertisement production Howard Mason +44 (81) 661 3267 EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST European Editor (Brussels) Julian Moxon +32 (2) 657 9689 Fax +32 (2) 657 5260 Munich Correspondent Douglas Barrie Paris Correspondent Gilbert Sedbon +33 (1) 4825 5261 Israel Correspondent Arie Egozi +972 (3) 967 1155 Sales Director (France) Pierre Mussard Representative (Italy) Romano Ferrary. +33 (1) 4277 1417 +39 (2) 5095 732 AMERICAS American Editor Graham Warwick Washington Correspondent Kieran Daly USA West Coast Correspondent (Los Angeles) Guy Norris Photographer (USA) Craig Schmitman Fax Fax President RBP (USA) Ray Barnes Traffic Manager JoAnn Lapp Fax Vice President US Sales John Tidy Fax Sales Director (Mid West and Canada) Gene Glendinning Fax Sales Director (East Coast) Robert Hancock Fax Business Development Director Sheena Bobbins Fax +44 (81) 661 8808 +1 (703) 836 7443 +1 (703) 836 7446 +1 (714) 252 8971 +1 (714) 252 8972 +1 (213) 391 8981 +1 (213) 391 8492 +1 (212) 867 2080 +1 (212) 867 2080 +1 (212) 687 6604 +1 (714) 756 1057 +1 (714) 756 2514 +1 (708) 635 9920 +1 (708) 635 0602 +1 (703) 836 7444 +1 (703) 836 7446 +1 (703) 836 7444 +1 (703) 836 7446 ASIA/PACIFIC Asian Editor (Singapore) John Bailey +65 226 3188 Fax +65 227 1769 Australian Correspondent Paul Phelan +61 (70) 532 791 Fax +61 (70) 532 791 Sales Director Mike Hancock (Singapore) +65 226 3188 Sales Executive Fiona Bartholomeusz +65 226 3188 Fax +65 223 6960 Regional Representative (Japan) Toshiaki Nakagawa +81 (3) 3234 2161 Fax +81 (3) 3234 1143 Publisher Les Edwards +44 (81) 661 3436 For lull advertisement information see page 52. Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation COMMENT RECORDING FOR POSTERITY A irlines are requred to fit flight data recorders (FDR) and cockpit voice recorders (CVR) on the premise that such systems will survive an accident and help determine the cause. The equipment goes some way to achieving this in that it usually survives. Some systems, however, sur vive with data too inadequate to be of any real assistance to an investigation, or with recording standards so poor that the information is lim ited and even, possibly, misleadingi' The causes of the two major accidents this year may always be un known or uncertain. In the first — a United Airlines' Boeing 737 which suddenly rolled and dived into the ground killing all on board — all CVR and FDR data survived; the problem is that the data recorded was only the basic flight performance. The weather appears to have been perfect and the CVR indicates that both pilots' were fully competent throughout the 6s it took for the aircraft to roll and crash. It is known what the aeroplane did, but not why. The second is the Lauda Air crash in Thai land. The CVR data sur vived to reveal the confusing state of affairs for the pilots (which is continuing -to confuse the investigators). The major factor involved in the accident, it appears, was the uncommanded deployment of a theoretically failsafe system; that of the thrust-reverser in one of the engines. The digital flight data recorder (DFDR) — which would have revealed a great deal more information about the aircraft systems than the old metal-tape FDRs — was found to have absolutely no retrievable data. Lack of DFDR information leaves the investigators not only without the basic performance information which could give a clue to what flight profile resulted from the causal event leading to the airframe breakup, but also without the systems information which could indicate whether on board damage or more widespread failure was Some survive with data too inadequate...or with recording standards so poor that the information is limited and even, possibly, misleading." responsible. Could the aircrew actually have contained the problem if they had understood it or was the manoeuvre outside their control? A reliable answer is impossible to calculate with the information unavailable. The Avianca 707, which crashed on New York's shores last year, did so because it ran out of fuel. It is fortunate that the cause was so obvious because the ancient FDR and CVR were in such poor condition that they would have re vealed practically noth ing anyway. In contrast, the quan tity of data available from the DFDRs and CVRs in the two Airbus A320 fatal accidents has shown what the new- generation equipment is capable of. It has enabled almost every aspect of the aircrafts' and crews' behavior in the critical phases of flight to be plotted and studied in detail. But if the DFDR's data does not survive, the equipment might as well never have been in stalled. The CVR problem is simple. The old system relies on an overhead microphone mounted in the cockpit which, unfortunately, takes in all the ambient noise and fails to record a quiet voice or unclear speech. This state of affairs, still a standard in the majority of operating airliners, is easily and cheaply rectified, but, so far, the regulators are not acting upon it. Upgrading all jets to DFDRs is not so simple; it requires not just the "box" but also the sensors and wiring. For all airliners which have an appreciable life remaining, however, DFDR installation should be made compulsory — airlines with fewer than 12 years in service would seem a reasonable starting point for a regulators,' notice of proposed rule-making. Most important of all, however, is that more research should be undertaken to devise ways of making sure CVR and DFDR data survives anything which experience shows is ever likely to happen in an aircraft accident. Otherwise the most sophisticated installation is in vain. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7 - 13 August, 1991 3
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