Which Data Must Be Recorded In The Aircraft Log

Description

Flight Data Recorder (FDR) - device used to tape specific aircraft operation parameters. The purpose of an FDR is to collect and record data from a variety of aircraft sensors onto a medium designed to survive an blow.

An FDR has historically been ane of two types of "flight recorder" carried on aircraft, the other being a cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Where both types of recorder are fitted, they are now sometimes combined into a single unit (ICAO Definition:Combination recorders). Combination recorders demand to come across the flight recorder equipage requirements every bit specifically detailed in ICAO Annex 6 - Operation of Aircraft.

ICAO Requirements

According to the provisions in ICAO Annex 6 - Functioning of Aircraft, Vol 1 and Vol. III, a Type I FDR shall shall record the parameters required to make up one's mind accurately the plane flight path, speed, attitude, engine power, configuration and operation. Types II and IIA FDRs shall record the parameters required to determine accurately the aeroplane flight path, speed, attitude, engine power and configuration of lift and drag devices.

The detailed listing of parameters to exist recorded by FDRs is provided in department 6.3 "Flight recorders" and at Attachement D to Addendum 6, Vol. I. Furthermore, provisions in section vi.3 specify the shipping equipage requirements depending on the maximum certificated take-off mass and the appointment of outset issue of the individual certificate of airworthiness. For example, provision half-dozen.3.6 of Annex 6, Vol. I states that, all aeroplanes of a maximum certificated take-off mass of over 5,700 kg for which the individual document of airworthiness is first issued afterwards 1 January 2005 shall exist equipped with a Type IA FDR.

According to ICAO SARPS, combination recorders (FDR/CVR) tin only be used to meet the flight recorder equipage requirements as specifically indicated in ICAO Annex 6 (Vol I and Vol Iii, Zipper D).

Objective

The recorder is installed in the most crash survivable part of the shipping, usually the tail section. The data collected in the FDR system can aid investigators determine whether an accident was caused by airplane pilot mistake, past an external issue (such as windshear), or by an airplane arrangement problem. Furthermore, these data have contributed to airplane system blueprint improvements and the power to predict potential difficulties as airplanes historic period. An instance of the latter is using FDR data to monitor the condition of a loftier-hours engine. Evaluating the information could exist useful in making a decision to replace the engine before a failure occurs.

FDR

Figure ane: Flight Data Recorder, Source: http://www.ntsb.gov

History

Flight data recorders were start introduced in the 1950s. Many first-generation FDRs used metallic foil every bit the recording medium. This metal foil was housed in a crash- survivable box installed in the aft end of an airplane. First in 1965, FDRs (usually known as "black boxes") were required to be painted bright orange or vivid xanthous, making them easier to locate at a crash site.

Second-generation FDRs were introduced in the 1970s as the requirement to record more information increased, but they were unable to procedure the larger amounts of incoming sensor data. The solution was development of the flight data acquisition unit (FDAU). A flight-information acquisition unit is a unit of measurement that receives various detached, analog and digital parameters from a number of sensors and avionic systems and and so routes them to a flight data recorder (FDR) and, if installed, to a Quick Access Recorder (QAR). Information from the FDAU to the FDR is sent via specific data frames, which depend on the aircraft manufacturer. Integration of FDAU functions into software required by other shipping organisation components is now being seen, as in the example of the Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) installed on the Boeing 787.

The second-generation digital FDR (DFDR) uses tape similar to audio recording tape. The tape is 300 to 500 ft long and can record up to 25 hr of data. It is stored in a cassette device mounted in a crash-protected enclosure.

FAA dominion changes in the tardily 1980s required the first-generation FDRs to exist replaced with digital recorders. Many of the older FDRs were replaced with second-generation magnetic record recorders that can process incoming data without a Flight Data Acquisition Unit (FDAU). Near of these DFDRs can process upwardly to 18 input parameters (signals). This requirement was based upon an aeroplane with four engines and a requirement to record 11 operational parameters for up to 25 hours.

Most recent recorders apply solid state engineering. Solid state uses stacked arrays of memory chips, so they don't have moving parts. With no moving parts, at that place are fewer maintenance problems and a decreased chance of something breaking during a crash. Data from both the cockpit vocalisation recorder (CVR) and FDR is stored on stacked retentivity boards inside the crash-survivable memory unit (CSMU).

The virtually modern FDR systems comprise an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) and some upwardly-to-date recorders are likewise equipped with an Underwater Locator Beacon (ULB) to assist in locating in the upshot of an overwater accident. A device called a "pinger" is automatically activate when the recorder is immersed in water. It transmits an acoustic point on a frequency of 37.v KHz that can exist detected with a suitable receiver. In the case of the latest recorders, these transmissions are detectable at all only the near farthermost oceanic depths but since they are battery-powered, their transmissions just go on for a limited period.

Principles of Functioning

The FDR onboard the aircraft records many different operating conditions of the flight. Past regulation, newly manufactured aircraft must monitor at least 80-viii important parameters such as fourth dimension, altitude, airspeed, heading, and aircraft mental attitude. In addition, some FDRs can record the status of more than than 1,000 other in-flying characteristics that tin assistance in the investigation. The items monitored tin can be annihilation from flap position to auto-pilot style or even fume alarms. Information technology is required by regulations that, on an annual ground, an FDR verification check (readout) is performed in guild to verify that all mandatory parameters are recorded.

Magnetic Tape - The introduction of the CVR in the late 1960s and DFDRs in the early on 1970s made magnetic tape the recording medium of pick until the introduction of solid-state flying recorders in the belatedly 1980s. There were a variety of tapes and tape transports used by the various recorder manufacturers. The almost widely used tapes were mylar, kapton, and metallic. The tape transports were even more varied, using designs such every bit coplaner reel to reel, coaxial reel-to-reel, countless loop reel packs and endless loop random storage. Tape CVRs record 4 channels of sound for 30 minutes, and the DFDR records 25 hours of data. CVRs and FDRs record over the oldest information with the newest data in an endless loop-recording recording pattern.
Digital Recording - Most DFDRs require a flight data acquisition unit of measurement (FDAU) to provide an interface between the various sensors and the DFDR. The FDAU converts analog signals from the sensors to digital signals that are then multiplexed into a serial data stream suitable for recording by the DFDR. Manufacture standards dictated the format of the data stream, which for the vast majority of record-based DFDRs is 64 12-bit data words per second. The recording chapters of the record DFDR is limited by the length of tape that tin be crash-protected and the data frame format. The chapters of the record DFDRs was acceptable for the first generation of wide-body transports, but was rapidly exceeded when aircraft like the Boeing 767 and Airbus A320 with digital avionics were introduced.
Solid Land Technology - The introduction of solid-state flight recorders in the late 1980s marked the most meaning advance in evolution of flying recorder technology. The use of solid-land retentiveness devices in flight recorders has expanded recording capacity, enhanced crash/burn down survivability, and improved recorder reliability. It is at present possible to accept 2-hour sound CVRs and DFDRs that tin can record upwardly to 256 12-bit data words per second, or 4 times the capacity of magnetic tape DFDRs.

Current Survivability Standards

TSO C123a (CVR) and C124a (DFDR)

Burn (High Intensity) - 1100°C flame covering 100% of recorder for thirty minutes. (60 minutes if ED56 test protocol is used)
Fire (Low Intensity) - 260°C Oven test for 10 hours
Impact Shock - 3,400 Gs for 6.five ms
Static Shell - 5,000 pounds for 5 minutes on each axis
Fluid Immersion - Immersion in shipping fluids (fuel, oil etc.) for 24 hours
Water Immersion - Immersion in bounding main water for 30 days
Penetration Resistance - 500 lb. Dropped from 10 ft. with a ¼-inch-diameter contact point
Hydrostatic Pressure - Pressure equivalent to depth of 20,000 ft.