Real-time GA flight recorder studied

Hardware development has begun on a next-generation flight data recorder for the general aviation sector, with flight experiments planned for June or July 2007. The recorder, which would actively process data in real-time to monitor flight performance parameters and react to potentially risky situations, is to be designed, developed and tested under the European Union’s Onboard Active Safety System (ONBASS) project. The three-year study began in January 2005, with the first year spent developing hardware and software specifications.

“[We are] concentrating on more intelligence for active safety control. It could make predictions and maybe provide warnings and advice for the pilot and maintenance crews,” says ONBASS coordinator Thomas Wittig, aerospace vice-present for German guidance and navigation technology company Euro Telematik.

Source: Flight International