Posted on 04/24/2006 10:17:12 AM PDT by Yo-Yo
Rebooting Your Airbus (After All The Screens Go Dark)
April 24, 2006
By Russ Niles,
Newswriter, Editor
Cures aside, pilots of Airbus A320-series airliners are getting new guidance on what to do if the screens on their electronically biased aircraft go blank. "Checklists will be streamlined so re-booting of power is quicker," an Airbus spokesman told the London Daily Mirror after Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch released a report on an incident aboard a British Airways A319 last October. The plane was carrying 76 passengers to Budapest from London when most of the electronic displays went blank. The crew was able to bring everything back online in 90 seconds and the passengers were blissfully unaware of the glitch.
The incident brought to light five similar instances on Airbuses. In the October incident, the plane was over southern England when the crew heard an audible "clunk." Five of six screens went out, the intercom and radio failed, the autopilot and autothrottles disengaged and most of the cockpit lights went out. The captain took over the controls and flew night VFR (fortunately it was a clear night) while he and the first officer sorted out the power failure. The flying pilot's task was further complicated by the fact that the backup analog instruments aren't lit. The AAIB has issued a series of safety recommendations but its final report isn't finished yet.
With handheld GPS technology advancing fast and even gyroless portable attitude indicators, Seems a backup system totally independant of aircraft power for critical flight information would be easy to install or have on the ready. I bet many airline types probably carry handhelds anyways.
... leaving Captain Robert Piche to fly the plane 113 miles to the Azores, in the Atlantic Ocean about 900 miles from Portugal, without power.
All you commercial pilots out there, please help us civilians out.
I was under the impression that these flying bricks had a power-off glide ratio of around 10:1
That would imply a starting altitude of around 11 miles, or 58,000 feet.
What gives?
Nothing personal, friend, but I would not want my captain on a commercial flight having to do that...
Airbus Technical Support: Hello there. I am being your technical support helper.
Cockpit: All our instruments went black. We don't have any of our computer screens.
Airbus Technical Support: I am not understanding you. Are you currently flying in your airbus?
Cockpit: Yes. We are approximately 500 miles west of London, and we have no instruments. Heavy weather here. We need assistance in restarting our instruments.
Airbus Technical Support: OK, I will be helping you then. Please be unplugging your instruments from the mains. Then replacing the mains plug firmly. After, then switching the instruments to on position.
Cockpit: Mains? What are you talking about. There are no mains in this aircraft! You need to help us. We do not know our current altitude or bearings.
Airbus Technical Support: Then, you are having problems with bearings on your airbus? I am not being the support person for bearings. I will transfer you...please be waiting now.
"This is tech support. As you wait for an available representative, please fully shut down your Airbus and reboot as you would at the beginning of your flight. We will be with you in a moment.... Your call is important to us............This is tech support. As you wait for an available representative, please fully shut down your Airbus and reboot as you would at the beginning of your flight. We will be with you in a moment.... Your call is important to us.... "
I wonder if that's supposed to be kilometers...
I was recently at an x-ray machine manufacturer for some training on their equipment. One system had a Linux-based control panel, the other one was Windows. Guess which one crashed while I was changing settings?
Hint: It wasn't the Linux system.
You learn the meaning of final approach.
See? I'm just the opposite. I want my captain on a flight doing whatever needs to be done to get the plane on the ground safely. If holding the flashlight in his mouth means the difference between seeing the instruments and not crashing vs. not seeing the instruments and crashing, then I'd rather see him use the funky way to hold a flashlight.
The glide ratio is a little higher, in the high teens. Just a little bit worse than the Schweizer 2-33 glider at 23:1. High-performance sailplanes are as high as 60:1 and most general aviation aircraft vary from 8:1 to as high as 25 or 30.
Truth be told, I work in a Windows XP shop; I know about Linux and Unix 'cause I support a lot of these systems.
But I have worked in Windows for years and had VERY few issues. Once I had Win95 / WinNT v3.5 / WinNT v4.1 multiple boot set up, and it lasted until I had to convert to W2K.
That has not always been the case for friends and coworkers - had a coworker who seemed to spend about 1 week / month rebuilding his Windows computer after fatal crashes or corruption.
But I have noticed that, if you want a reliable server, best bet is Unix or Linux.
That incident turned out to be the result of a botched maintenance job. After replacing an engine, the crew used the wrong fittings for the fuel line.
Aviation -ping- list .... for those of us who still kinda like old-fashion "steam gauges" ...
That's why I got one of those "headlights" at the camping supply shop. It switches between red and white LEDs.
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