A Canadian company says its equipment would meet specifications for the flight-data transmission capability that French accident investigator BEA has recommended in its latest interim report on the Air France flight 447 crash in the Atlantic.
The BEA recommends "EASA and ICAO make mandatory as quickly as possible, for aeroplanes making public transport flights with passengers over maritime or remote areas, the triggering of data transmission to determine location as soon as an emergency situation is detected on board".
AeroMechanical Services (AMS) said it has participated in the BEA's data recovery and triggered data transmission working groups since 2009, "demonstrating its on-demand triggered data-streaming technology".
The company said it intends to ensure its FLYHTStream system meets the precise requirements of the BEA's rule-making proposal, including the automatic transmission of the exact position of an aircraft and of key "black box" data in real time.
"FLYHTStream has demonstrated triggered data-streaming feasibility and technical maturity to the extent that a highly-respected international agency [BEA] is confident in the benefits of triggered data transmission for the industry and travelling public," AMS president Richard Hayden said.
He added that AMS was the only company to have "demonstrated continuous real-time delivery of black-box data from an aircraft in flight" and that he hoped the BEA's recommendation would be adopted.
It took nearly two years for the BEA to locate the main wreckage of the AF447 Airbus A330 on the ocean floor and recover its flight and cockpit voice recorders, triggering debate about the limitations of conventional onboard data recording.
Source: Flight International
