British Airways has received operational approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to use Boeing's electronic logbook on its 787 fleet, making it the first Dreamliner operator to go paperless for technical and cabin logs, the airframer confirms.
Developed in partnership with Ultramain Systems, the ELB is intended to enable improved – and more efficient – communication between flightcrew, cabin crew and ground-based maintenance and engineering staff.
The ELB software runs on the 787's integrated electronic flightbag and onboard server system to gather both automatically collected flight data and crew-observed fault input. Information is shared with ground-based personnel and maintenance systems while the aircraft is still airborne, enabling ground crew to be ready at the gate with parts and documentation.
"The ELB will allow faster and more detailed communication between our crews and ground teams," says BA's 787 fleet chief Steve Frewin. "We worked closely with Boeing and used our shared expertise and knowledge of the 787's full technology capabilities in order to receive this approval from the CAA. This development represents our commitment to investment in technology to further improve our customers' flying experiences."
Per Noren, vice-president for customer solutions at Boeing's Digital Aviation unit, confirms BA to be "the first 787 customer to eliminate paper technical and cabin logs".
Pilot-observed faults can now be entered in the ELB, whereas previously they were handwritten by a pilot into a paper logbook.
BA also uses Boeing's aircraft health management software. In-flight faults generated by the aircraft and systems and automatically recorded by AHM are correlated and displayed side by side with the faults recorded by pilots.
Boeing says use of the ELB with AHM "provides comprehensive analytics and prognostics capabilities, creating a more complete picture of the aircraft's maintenance status. Equipped with this data-driven knowledge, airlines are able to understand, diagnose and quickly execute maintenance items."
Source: Cirium Dashboard
