FAA Joins Push To Use Wireless Signals For Aircraft-Safety Systems
June 22 2016 - 7:10AM
Dow Jones News
U.S. aviation regulators have teamed up with their European
counterparts to develop common standards aimed at harnessing
wireless signals for a potentially wide array of aircraft-safety
systems.
Nearly a year after Airbus Group SE unsuccessfully urged Federal
Aviation Administration officials to join in such efforts, Peggy
Gilligan, the agency's senior safety official, has set up an
advisory committee to cooperate with European experts specifically
to "provide general guidance to industry" on the topic.
The FAA's decision became public Tuesday, during a meeting of
the top policy-making committee of RTCA Inc., an
industry-government group that serves as the regulatory agency's
primary think tank on technical issues. The goal, according to the
FAA, is "to enable improvements in safety and a reduction in
weight" by eliminating some of the wiring that now connects many
systems on board jetliners.
Both the FAA and Boeing Co. were initially cool to the notion.
But the latest move to develop joint U.S.-European standards,
according to RTCA documents, is intended to eliminate "significant
variability in wireless technology, application and protection for
aviation products." The initiative is slated to run over roughly
three years.
So far, most public attention has focused on enhanced wireless
technology to improve connectivity for passengers surfing the Web
during flights. But the Airbus effort move is part of a broader,
less well-known initiative—which includes rival Boeing and several
international avionics suppliers—to research use of on board
wireless signals for safety-related applications such as a backup
for engine controls; monitoring the condition of landing-gear
systems; detecting dangerous icing on airplane surfaces; and
alerting pilots about defective airspeed sensors. Some backers
estimate the result could be to eliminate some 220 pounds of wiring
on the average jetliner.
European authorities already are developing standards for such
wireless applications outside passenger cabins. Now, an
RTCA-organized panel, led by officials of Airbus and Honeywell
International Inc., will seek to ensure there are common standards
for safety-related uses on both sides of the Atlantic.
Previously, Airbus indicated that company engineers envision a
wider range of applications, potentially even as backup systems for
moving critical wing and tail surfaces that control flight.
Proponents envision such wireless applications will be separate
from signals used by passengers for entertainment or
communications. But one of the main issues the RTCA panel will
study is how safety-related wireless signals could impact signals
already used for radio altimeters that tell pilots the altitude of
aircraft.
The proposed uses also raise significant issues about future
aircraft vulnerabilities to cyberattacks. As a result, U.S. and
European experts have been instructed to delve into those
matters.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 22, 2016 06:55 ET (10:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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