Alaska pilots not allowed to access Internet in the cockpit due to interference issue

Air Transport Intelligence news (as cited by FlightGlobal) ^ | 31/05/11 | Mary Kirby

[raygun]

Alaska Airlines is not permitting its pilots to use their new iPads to access the Internet in the cockpit after witnessing Wi-Fi interference with Honeywell Phase 3 display units [DUs].

[raygun]

The carrier is distributing iPads to its pilots to replace paper flight manuals, and ultimately intends for the Apple tablets to be used as Class I electronic flight bags (EFBs). But accessing connectivity for real-time EFB applications - or for other uses - in the flightdeck will not be allowed in the near term in accordance with FAA guidance, an Alaska spokeswoman confirmed to ATI and Flightglobal.

Honeywell Phase 3 display units last year showed themselves susceptible to blanking during electromagnetic interference testing of wireless broadband systems on Boeing Next Generation 737s. One of the conditions for 737NG operators to receive FAA supplemental type certification for Aircell's Gogo in-flight Internet solution is they must require that Wi-Fi devices be powered off in the flightdeck.

[EGPWS]

in accordance with FAA guidance,...

Case closed. ; )

[raygun]

Aviation ping (iPod)

[HiTech RedNeck]

This interference situation disappoints me as an engineer. I’d also be more confident as a passenger if every cockpit still had a physical paper flight manual. You can stick a finger in a book in a way you can’t when reading on an electronic screen.

[af_vet_rr]

I’m disappointed that the affected systems aren’t shielded better. How could this have made it through testing? It’d be one thing if these were 20 year old systems that were designed before the widespread use of wireless networking, but these are the next generation of 737s. Somebody could really screw with some of the cockpit instrumentation with some off-the-shelf components.

[raygun]

This disappoints the pointy-haired boss too; he believes its his duty to have his laptop up and running at all times during the flight in case the pilots need help flying the aircraft.

[VeniVidiVici]

I have 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals bouncing all over my house. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything affected

[UCANSEE2]

Have you ever tried flying a commercial jetliner through your house?

[ThomasThomas]

While I agree that a paper manual does have advantages to a electronic device, I would also like to think that it would not need to be consult often while in flight.

[Northern Yankee]

Good one!

[Cyber Liberty]

How could this have made it through testing?

Uhhhhhh.....

FTA:

Honeywell Phase 3 display units last year showed themselves susceptible to blanking during electromagnetic interference testing of wireless broadband systems on Boeing Next Generation 737s.

It didn't make through testing. Hence the story, which you apparently did not read.

[Blueflag]

Solution = don’t buy or install these Honeywell units?

[HereInTheHeartland]

“Have you ever tried flying a commercial jetliner through your house?”

That could only be attempted one time.

[Cyber Liberty]

Yeah. I sure hope they didn’t already install a bunch of these. I bet they did.

[SkyDancer]

They’re supposed to turn those electronic devices off when in the air. The passengers can’t use them. If they need updating on anything they’re always in contact with ARTCC and other folks.

[ALPAPilot]

Have you ever tried flying a commercial jetliner through your house?

No, but I would like to try. It would make going to work much easier, and the jet lag wouldn't be so bad.

[af_vet_rr]

It didn't make through testing. Hence the story, which you apparently did not read.

Sorry, let me rephrase - how could those displays have made it into production aircraft if they were proven to be susceptible to something that simple. Digging further into an older article, this popped up:

Boeing, meanwhile, says: "Current testing by Boeing and Honeywell has determined that blanking may occur when a DU is subjected to testing procedures specified by the FAA requirements (AC-20-164) during installations of Wi-Fi systems on the airplane. Based on testing that has been conducted, Boeing and Honeywell have concluded that actual EMI levels experienced during normal operation of typical passenger Wi-Fi systems would not cause any blanking of the Phase 3 DU. This issue does not exist with the Phase 1 or 2 DU's."

There's a lot of articles about this and a lot of finger pointing.

Personally, I don't like the idea of pilots relying on anything they need to download over the internet. It's one thing to have PDFs of various documents and books they need.

[Cyber Liberty]

I agree with that. I want more than a few bits of RAM between me and a crash.

[Turbopilot]

Personally, I don't like the idea of pilots relying on anything they need to download over the internet. It's one thing to have PDFs of various documents and books they need.

Books about current and forecast weather would get outdated pretty quickly.

[Turbopilot]

I was under the impression that the inflight Wi-Fi systems were turned off on the ground and below 10,000 feet. If the problem in testing involved the onboard Wi-Fi system, it shouldn’t matter on the ground anyway. The crew could still use 3G connections if their iPads were so equipped.