DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON & GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Video security system is scheduled for certification this month and will be offered as part of Airbus package
Goodrich's cockpit door video surveillance (CDVSS) system is due for certification on 22 April for all Airbus products, making it the first system cleared for operational service, Flight International can exclusively reveal. It will provide pilots with cockpit displays of the area outside the cockpit door and forward galley areas.
This is particularly significant after the International Civil Aviation Organisation's move last week to make cockpit security systems, including external surveillance, standard. The US Federal Aviation Administration has yet to make a surveillance system mandatory.
Airbus says it is in the final stages of preparing a total onboard security retrofit kit for existing customers and plans soon to deliver new aircraft with a standard security fit. As well as the Goodrich surveillance equipment, Airbus says the security package includes a decompression-safe reinforced cockpit door and lock, improved cockpit/cabin communications, and tamper-proof secure air-ground communications systems.
Provision is also made for rapid evacuation of the crew in the event of an emergency landing, and for in-flight crew incapacitation.
Goodrich says it will begin deliveries this month, and expects to begin installations immediately on production line aircraft. The CDVSS consists of a colour display in the cockpit, three monochrome video cameras and a system controller.
The display is mounted on the co-pilot's sidewall on a hinged bracket that allows access to an existing circuit-breaker panel. The display is triggered by an entry alert signal to show the view outside the door. A switch then allows the crew to select a split-screen view of the forward galley area from the other two cameras.
The CDVSS can be expanded, using an ARINC-600 style video computer to include a passenger cabin monitoring system with up to 16 additional video and audio inputs, says Goodrich. The company also reveals that an "undisclosed A340-500 customer" has ordered a real-time passenger cabin monitoring system.
Goodrich is already talking to customers about adding capabilities such as movement and event detection, says Jan Mathiesen, vice-president commercial transport Goodrich Sensor Systems.
The new ICAO standard includes the requirement for a reinforced cockpit door that must be closed and locked from the time the aircraft's external doors are closed until they are opened at the destination, except to admit access and exit by authorised persons; a surveillance system to enable the crew to view the area near the cockpit door; and discreet cabin crew to cockpit communication systems.
Source: Flight International
