Page 22 - ITU-T Focus Group on Aviation Applications of Cloud Computing for Flight Data Monitoring - Avionics and Aviation Communications Systems

ITU-T Focus Group on Aviation Applications of Cloud Computing for Flight Data Monitoring
Avionics and Aviation Communications Systems

10.1.5 Flight data concentrator and flight data recorder
There are typically between 20 and 50 avionics line replaceable units (LRUs) on the aircraft and on the engines
that collectively have access often to thousands of flight data parameters. A selected sub-set of these data
parameters is collected together in real time in a flight data concentrator which in turn packages the incoming
data into a stream which feeds into the crash survivable flight data recorder (FDR) more commonly known as
the black box. The data stored in the flight recorder is utilized for accident and incident investigation purposes.

10.1.6 Real-time flight data analysis

The flight data acquired by the flight data concentrator is also made available to a real-time analysis function
on the aircraft which is most often known as the aircraft condition monitoring system (ACMS) which also
has been a standard feature in aircraft since the late 1990s. The real-time analysis function enables various
aircraft systems and the engines to be monitored continuously, and based on certain triggers or conditions
small packages of flight data are sent to airline operations and maintenance through a short text message
router (ACARS) which has been commonly used by airlines on most aircraft for more than twenty years. The
real-time analysis function also independently sends flight data that can be equivalent to or greater than the
black box recording to an auxiliary recorder function on the aircraft.

10.1.7 Auxiliary flight data recording

Since the advent of ICAO Annex 6 Part 1 requirements in 2005, virtually every airline in the world has had
a need to routinely collect recorded flight data from the aircraft and perform post-flight flight data analysis
for flight operations safety monitoring and improvement purposes. Many airlines were already performing
flight data analysis not only for safety benefits but also to realize maintenance and operational efficiency
improvements, and the industry had already developed several auxiliary flight data recorders. Auxiliary flight
data recorder functions such as quick access recorder (QAR), digital ACMS recorder (DAR), and search and
rescue (SAR) are now also standard on most aircraft since they make it easier to routinely harvest flight data

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