A tire pressure remote sensor system by Crane Aerospace and Electronics has been awarded a supplemental type certificate for the Bombardier Learjet 60.
In September 2008 at Columbia, South Carolina, a Learjet 60 overran the runway, killing four of the six people on board when the crew aborted take-off, following the failure of all four main gear tires because they were under-inflated. The National Transportation Safety Board, during its investigation of the fatal accident, found that allowing tires to become under-inflated is common in the industry, and the FAA has expressed concern about this evident problem, which is to be addressed at the NBAA convention in a briefing at 15:00 on Wednesday 20 October.
Crane's sensor system can be retrofitted to existing aircraft, and is already approved for the Cessna Sovereign and Citation X. It is simply a question of replacing the existing valve stem with its own SmartStem, which contains sensors. Tire pressure can then be checked remotely by wireless link using a hand-held device that displays the pressure and temperature, and since the check does not physically interfere with the valve, no pressure is lost.
Boeing uses SmartStem technology on its 777s that have been produced since May this year, and Crane has been developing it for the 787's brake control and monitoring system.
Source: Flight Daily News
