TIM RIPLEY
A Windows NT version of the Icarus diagnostic software for air crash investigators has been launched at Paris by the UK's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). Icarus helps boards of inquiry to analyse flight data recorder information as quickly as possible after an accident. The new version means that investigators in the field can run Icarus efficiently on a laptop. The software turns the raw data from the black box into a real-time simulated cockpit display, explains DERA spokesman Stephen Cooke. "It provides an immediate idea of what happened in the air and gives the board of inquiry more to work on than time-consuming, hard-to-interpret data tables and graphs." The software also synchronises its visual display of the aircraft's instruments with the cockpit voice audio track and an external view of the aircraft's position. "The Windows NT version will make it even more versatile, portable and configurable, allowing the displayed instruments to be updated as new aircraft enter service and existing designs evolve," says Cooke. Icarus has a number of other possible applications. During aircraft flight trials, for instance, a ground-based supervisory pilot can carefully monitor instrument readings via a ground-air datalink. It can also be used as a training and debriefing tool for trials managers, test pilots, instructors and students. A previous flight can be played back at a faster or slower rate, and even frame-by-frame.
Source: Flight Daily News
