Aviation Recorder Overview

There are a wide variety of airborne and ground-based aviation recording devices that can provide vital information for accident prevention purposes. The primary information sources include the mandatory crash-protected flight recorders, airborne quick access data recorders, and ground-based recordings of air traffic control (ATC) radar returns and radio communications. Other sources of recorded information, such as aircraft system internal memory devices and recordings of airline operational communications, have also provided vital information to accident investigators. These devices can range from nonvolatile memory chips to state-of-the-art solid-state flight recorders. With the exception of the mandatory flight recorders, these devices were designed primarily to provide recorded information for maintenance trouble-shooting or specific operational requirements. Regardless of their original purpose, they have all been used in one form or another to investigate aviation accidents. This paper will give an overview of the evolution of flight recorder technology and regulatory requirements, and describe the capabilities and limitations of the various types of recorded information available to the aviation community for accident prevention and, in particular, accident/incident investigation.

• Record URL:
  http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Publications/pdf_library/grossi.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594

  International Transportation Safety Association

  Apeldoorn,   Netherlands 
• Authors:
  • Grossi, Dennis R
• Conference:
  • Transportation Recording: 2000 and Beyond. International Symposium on Transportation Recorders
  • Location: Arlington VA, United States
  • Date: 1999-5-3 to 1999-5-5
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 153-164
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Transportation Recorders. Transportation Recording: 2000 and Beyond, May 3-5, 1999, Arlington, Virginia

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air traffic control; Air transportation crashes; Aircraft operations; Automatic data collection systems; Aviation safety; Computer memory; Crash data; Crash investigation; Data recorders; Flight recorders; Maintenance; Prevention; Regulation; Solid state devices; Technology
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Maintenance and Preservation; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01088101
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 30 2008 12:31PM