Quick access recorder

Abstract: Systems and methods for monitoring and reporting a quick access recorder (QAR) data in real time. The system includes a QAR for recording fault information, a removable portable hardware component that stores, analyzes and displays the fault information, an onboard data communication network that enables the QAR and the portable hardware component to exchange information, and an air-ground data transmitting device for transmitting the fault information from the vehicle. The removable portable hardware component may be an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) that hosts a QAR Manager application and communication technologies to manage and report all applications on the EFB.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the calculation of aircraft braking friction and other relating landing parameters, including but not limited to aircraft braking action, aircraft takeoff distance, aircraft landing distance, runway surface conditions and runway surface friction based on the data collected by and available in the aircraft Flight Data Recorder (FDR) or other flight data management system, for example, the Quick Access Recorder (QAR), to provide all involved personnel in the ground operations of an airport and airline operations, including but not limited to aircraft pilots, airline operation officers and airline managers as well as airport operators, managers and maintenance crews, with the most accurate and most recent information on the true aircraft landing performance parameters to help better and more accurate safety and economical decision making.

Abstract: For analysis of low-level windshear and turbulence events at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), besides pilot reports routinely received from Air Traffic Control, Quick Access Recorder (QAR) data are obtained from the local airlines by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO). Instead of using directly the wind data recorded on the aircraft by the flight management system (FMS), there has been a collaborative study between HKO and the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) in The Netherlands to develop a QAR data analysis software to calculate the meteorological quantities, such as the three components of the wind, windshear hazard factor and turbulence intensity parameters, taking into account the aircraft’s aerodynamic factors (e.g. sideslip angle, angle-of-attack). This paper describes the main features of the calculation software, named WINDSTURB, and illustrates its application to windshear and turbulence studies through selected cases at HKIA.