Page 40 - World Airnews September 2020 Edition

AIR SAFETY AIRLINES

AIRBUS A340 PILOTS AIR TRAVEL OF

WASTE SAFETY MARGIN THE FUTURE

AT TAKEOFF By Mitra Sorrells

gota, the pilot made an even softer input at added safety margins into the procedure at
VR. The pitch angle was therefore danger- Bogota Airport. Air France crews have also

he French air accident investigation ously low (see red curve) at takeoff and for been retrained in rotation techniques. As a

Toffi ce (BEA) has discovered that a the initial climb. result, takeoff distances have been reduced

serious incident involving an Airbus A340 Given the operating conditions on the but they remain above the airframer’s theo-

retical model, the BEA notes.

in 2017 was only the tip of the iceberg day of the incident, what may be more Lufthansa chose not to teach its pilots to

concerning pilot safety. While the inves- disturbing is that Airbus’ simulation shows increase the rotation rate at takeoff, citing

the recommended two-thirds deflection

tigation highlights the value of flight data was inadequate. a risk of tailstrike.

monitoring, it also shows that such analysis “The pilot should have applied, at VR, an Airbus’ documentation no longer

must improve, otherwise some faulty pilot initial input of more than 80% of the maxi- includes a typical value for the backward

practices will continue to go unnoticed. mum deflection,” says the BEA. With the 3 stick input. The manufacturer would rather

The BEA determined that some abnormally deg. per second rotation rate, the simula- focus on the rotation rate, which itself

long Airbus A340-300 takeoffs from Bogota tion yielded a takeoff distance that used should depend on a given day’s conditions.

El Dorado International Airport in Colombia 67% of the mandatory safety margin. The investigators had a hard time com-

were due to improper pilot inputs. The events The A340 needs a greater sidestick input puting trends from the available data.

- at least two - involved Air France-operated at takeoff than the A320 and A330, and “The flight parameters that are recorded

aircraft, but the carrier’s co-operation with Airbus has consistently highlighted the risk for the operators are unsuitable for sys- so many significant ways, including improved

Lufthansa demonstrated that the problem of tailstrike. BEA investigators believe these tematic analysis” when it comes to takeoff fuel efficiency, noise reduction, in cabin design

was not specific to the former. two factors may have influenced A340 performance, they said. s British Airways celebrates their and luxury. It is therefore not hard to see how,

A340-300 pilots tend not to pull the pilots in their rotation technique. The BEA has recommended that the A100 years of fl ying anniversary, the at this rate of progress, these seemingly unreal

control stick backward enough at takeoff, Moreover, estimating a rotation rate European Aviation Safety Agency and airline is exploring predictions for the air travel predictions will come true,” said British Air-

according to the BEA. The incident pilot him- is difficult, according to Vincent Gilles, Airbus re-establish consistency between experience 20, 40, 60 and even 100 years in ways’ chairman and chief executive Alex Cruz.
self was pulling even less than the average. vice president of the SNPL France ALPA the certified takeoff performance and the future. Respondents also indicate future air travel

Bogota’s airport is located at an altitude pilot union. actual operations. The short answer is - it could be very differ- will integrate technology in ways that provide

of 8,360 ft. in a mountainous environment. “If you are focused on your takeoff, you “What is serious is that the discrepancy ent than air travel today. much more convenience before, during and

The takeoff run available on the day of the cannot measure precisely that you reach lasted for years,” Gilles said. In any case, “this Surveys of 13,000 consumers conducted after a trip. The report says passengers will

travel via Hyperloop straight to the airfield and

investigated incident (March 11, 2017) was the desired pitch angle in the required 4 cannot be exact science, you have to take by Foresight Factor across ten countries, and slotted into their assigned space on board the

3,800 m (12,470 ft.), followed by a 300-m sec. but it should be doable to train for this safety margins and monitor operations.” interviews with industry experts and futurists, aircraft. During that travel, the passenger’s

clearway, an obstruction-free area beyond in a simulator.” have informed the airline’s BA 2119: Flight of

the runway end and controlled by the Airbus’ test pilots should spend more Could that flight phase be automated? the Future Report. Hyperloop compartment will travel through
airport authority. time correlating the input with the rotation That would be a bad idea, as the human Among the key findings - consumers want to a tunnel with sensors that handle safety and

being has the big picture the computer

security screenings automatically. The passen-

Despite thorough preparation, the flight rate, which would give commercial pilots does not, said Gilles. be able to personalise their flying experience ger’s luggage would also be picked up from

began with a dramatically long takeoff run more accurate recommendations, he said. much more than they can today. One possibil- home or office and transported via Hyperloop

“In case the pilot sees a flock of birds

and shallow climb. Liftoff took place 140m To prevent abnormal takeoffs from hap- on the intended trajectory, he will slightly ity will be customised services based on the onto the plane.

before the opposite threshold, and the end pening again, Air France and Lufthansa have traveller’s DNA. The report states that by 2025, “Through innovative use of the Hyperloop

of the clearway was overflown by a mere 6 ft. delay rotation.” Q 75% of people will use or be interested in using transit system, which will be present in most

The aircraft only had a 12 ft. clearance over a service that provides personalised health

the instrument landing system’s antennas. advice based on their DNA. major cities, commuters will avoid any road-
blocks and delays on their journey, enabling
According to the BEA, the actual take- “Such advances will open up a range of them to cover intercontinental journeys in half

off distance on that day was 424 m over new data that airlines can use to provide a of current time scales or less,” the report states.

the accepted standard, which includes hyper-personalised service to each individual But while supersonic jets will make air travel
safety margins. customer,” it says. faster than ever, the report says within 50
Airbus used Air France data to study Looking further into the future, the report years there will also be an interest in slow,

A340-300 pilot practices, says the BEA. In suggests that by 2069, airplane seats will have experiential flights, for example for travellers

the flight crew training manual, the airfram- biological scanners to detect a passenger’s beginning a holiday.

er recommends the pilot apply a two-thirds physiological and nutritional needs and suggest Dubbed “air cruises,” these flights will go

deflection to the sidestick (i.e. two-thirds appropriate food and drinks. Seats will also be

of the full back position) at rotation speed equipped with tablet computers that can be slowly over areas of interest such as the pyr-

(VR). This is supposed to be the right proce- personalized for the traveller to use for work or amids in Egypt, while passengers use virtual
reality headsets on board for an immersive
dure to quickly reach the expected 3 deg. entertainment, and holographic flight atten- commentary on what they are seeing. The

per second rotation rate (see green curve dants will handle simple requests to free cabin report states, “Slower, experiential flights will

on the graph). crew for more complex interactions. require new forms of entertainment or activity

However, the average Air France pilot The report says 3D printers will also become to maintain interest.” One idea from futurists:

makes a smaller deflection, resulting in less common on planes, used to prepare food and zones on board the aircraft dedicated to enter-

than 2 deg. per second. Airbus calculated that print personalised health supplements such as tainment, education – for example about the

this translates into an additional 200 m to lift- melatonin to address jet lag. destination - and health activities such as yoga

off. The problem is the same with Lufthansa. In the March 2017 incident, the pilot’s input on the sidestick (red) was softer “In the last ten years alone, the airline that help passengers feel better at the end of

During the March 11, 2017, event in Bo- than the Air France average (blue) and Airbus’ model (green). Credit: BEA industry and flight experience has changed in the trip. Q

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