Why Aircrafts Disappear, Prevention of Vanishing - Coursework Example

Aviation Safety Name Institution Date Course 1. Why Aircrafts Disappear The circumstances surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 remain unclear. Experts and the general public still just imagine what could have gone wrong, at this time of civilization and technology. The MH370 incident, however, is just one of a number of historical aircraft disappearances that have been witnessed in the aviation industry. The developments and growth of the aviation industry has been hit by several cases of aircraft disappearances that have left many questions unanswered (Smith, 2014). In a roundup of mysterious plane disappearances, Smith (2014) recalls an incident in 1937, when an American navigator known as Amelia Earhart disappeared untraced in her Lockheed Electra when she and her navigator tried to circumnavigate the globe. Later on, theories about her fate have continued to fascinate researchers. Several researchers have believed that she could have simply ran out of fuel then crushed into the sea while others believe that she was captured by the Japanese who thought that she was a spy for Franklin D Roosevelt. Strange disappearances have been witnessed but concerns have been raised regarding the Bermuda Triangle (Smith, 2014; Bhattacharya, 2012). Over many years, several ships and aircrafts have disappeared without trace or got involved in fatal accidents within the triangular area in the Atlantic area that has come to be known as the Bermuda Triangle. In several cases when such incidences occur within this region, no ship or aircraft traces have been recovered even after thorough search operations around the areas where the incidents have occurred. A famous incident occurred in 1995 when five training flights that had taken off from the Florida naval base under the experienced leadership of a naval captain, were never seen again. Interestingly, even the vessel that was sent for the rescue mission never returned (Bhattacharya, 2012). Within the Bermuda area, experts have suggested theories such as the methane gas under the ocean that is thought to cause ships to sink, and electronic fog that is believed to engulf an aircraft, taking it to zones that have never been known. There have also been suggestions that the disappearances may have been caused by hurricanes, but experts have not been able to identify the exact cause for which incident. Earlier aircraft disappearances have been associated with electrical charges that are a result of travelling within highly charging cloud (Breiner, 2006). Breiner, a geologist working in the Bermuda area, pointed out that this was the main cause of plain disappearances before modern avionics. These planes, of the 40s and the 70s, did not have GPS or inert navigation technologies. Loran C was also very expensive and could not work everywhere and the most widely used instrument was the navigation compass. The magnetic compass is located on or above the panel and in front of the pilot. It was critical that for successful operation, the magnetometer had to be protected from electrical and magnetic currents and therefore, the sensor had to be far from the cockpit, engines and the like. The display on the cockpit is not the whole compass, but just a display. The magnetic sensor is usually located out on the plane’s wings and the signal transmitted through wire to the compass. In order to ensure that the compass display is adequately damped, the moving indicator is usually placed in a viscous fluid so that it gives an average reading and prevents it from jumping around due to the motion of the aircraft (Breiner, 2006). While the plane flies through cloud and humid air, charges are developed on its surface that are characterised by constantly and widely varying electrical currents that flows across and around the aircraft wing as well as around the flux-valve sensor of the magnetic compass. Given its highly-damped response, watching the compass is likely not to show exactly how fast it might be changing. The fact that Bermuda Triangle does not have any roads or physical indicators of direction, and since the area is commonly covered with cloud so that using the sun’s angle is not possible to be used to know direction, the pilot is likely to end up not necessarily flying in circles, but may be flying in a longer path rounding a series of lines that meander within a restricted area until he runs out of fuel (Briener, 2006). While this could be true for plane disappearances in the past, the emergence of GPS and modern technologies in avionics certainly mean that such challenges have been overcome. But planes continue disappearing! Air safety foundation, 2002, reports that ice is usually bad news. Ice has been known to destroy the smooth flow of air and increase the drag on the plane while decreasing the airfoils’ ability to create lift. The main cause for worry is not the actual weight of the ice, but the airflow disruption that it causes. While the pilot adds more power to compensate for that extra drag, the nose gets lifted so as to maintain altitude, but this only increases the angle of attack and allows the wings underside and the fuselage to add additional ice. The burden of the ice will continue to build in flight where no boots or heat can reach and can cause the antennas to severely vibrate till they break. In severe incidents, a light aircraft may become so iced up that it fails to continue with flight. It is possible that the plane stalls at much higher speeds and lower angles of attack that normal. The plane could roll or pitch uncontrollably, and it may be impossible to recover it. The Malaysian aircraft, is one of the most recent cases and some experts claim that the plane might have gotten diverted deliberately after all its key communication systems were switch off (BBC News, 2014). Modern technologies of tracking and positioning employ GPS and radar technologies that help pilots and the air traffic control to approximate the exact location of the aircraft during the flight. The GPS is usually used by the pilots to know their position but not commonly used by the air traffic control. It is possible, though, that an aircraft loses radar coverage due to radio wave attenuation that results to loss of intensity of the signal and is exacerbated by rough terrain or bad weather. The Malaysian aircraft disappeared from air traffic control network when its transponder signal suddenly stopped. The aircraft was last sighted on civilian radar flying north east over the Gulf of Thailand. The technologies in the current aviation industry could track aircrafts but almost only lose their position if the technologies and sensors are deliberately switched off. This is the main likely fate for the Malaysian aircraft since it has been established that the loss of contact may have been a result of deliberate action. When another aircraft, the Air France 447, disappeared in 2009, its ACARS system provided insight to what had gone wrong. For this aircraft, the communication system revealed faulty speed readings that caused disorientation to the air crew. After the last communication from the Malaysian aircraft at exactly 01:07, it is believe that the system was shut down deliberately (BBC News, 2014). Other researcher have associated the disappearance of the aircraft with possibilities of a mid-air explosion, a terrorist attack, power failure, pilot error, pilot suicide, hijacking, aeronautical black hole and electronic warfare (Zolfagharifard, Griffiths & Woollaston, 2014). 2. Technologies to track planes Radar technology Radar systems have been used to monitor and track aircrafts for a long time. These systems, deployed on Earth orbiting satellites are majorly composed of radars in space, a control centre from where correlation and analysis of data is done, on board satellites that remain in geo-stationary orbits and, computing software/hardware to interact with the application. Dish antennas accompany the radar systems and these come in light weight. For those systems deployed in space, the focus of its parabolic shape is made to focus away than that of the dish antenna on land based radar system. To project more power, the deep dish antenna is used, and these are able to drive the beam to greater distance with a large range. For the space born radar systems, the dish antenna utilizes the entire dish area for both reception and projection functions while for land based systems, smaller circular areas are used towards the centre of the dish projects the beam. The remaining big outer area is employed for reception only. With the computer system, the data from the transponder of the radars can be viewed and analysed by independent staff and personnel at locations away from the airport (Kadakia, 2014). There are two types of radar systems: primary and secondary. The primary radar uses reflections from the target aircraft to determine exact positions while secondary radar systems use detector devices, called transponders that are located within the aircraft to be positioned. These sensors detect signals from the radar dish and these are interpreted to determine exact positions. Radar systems have been successfully used for a long time and have greatly enhanced aircraft tracking. The systems have been used by air traffic controllers to coordinate air traffic but it has also been associated with some uncovered shadow areas and poor performance during bad weather and difficult terrain. Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) ADS-B is one of the most recent technologies for surveillance that is designed to transform the tracking systems for aircrafts. The technology enables the improvement of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NexGen) as well as the Single Shy Air Traffic Management (ATM) Research program. This technology has been certified as an effective low-cost replacement of the traditional radar system and allows the control crew to accurately monitor and control aircrafts with more precision and over extensive area beyond the range for the conventional approaches. The technology has enabled the extension of surveillance to the large expanses of Australia as well as Hudson Bay in Canada, places that have remained without radar coverage for a long time. This technology will shift the aircraft tracking from the radar-based tracking to satellite-reliant global positioning system surveillance. Again, it is regarded as the technology that will bring precision and reliability of the surveillance from satellite to the nations’ skies. ADS-B uses a number of satellites, receivers and transmitters to furnish both the control personnel and the crew members with very specific information regarding the location as well as speed of the airplanes within the area covered. The technology is expected to bring great benefits to the airlines. It will give the ability to improve existing standards of safety while increasing system capacity and efficiency. It will also improve the situational awareness of crew members by letting them know there location in relation to other planes (see appendix). It will also greatly increase the capacity for the Air Traffic Control system by accommodating more flights. It will also reduce airline costs for every passenger kilometre by enabling more direct travel at efficient altitudes and speeds (Richards, O’Brien & Miller, 2010). Emergency Locator Transmitters These transmitters were first used in the 70s but became more common in the 80s. ELT technical standards are defined in FAA TSO C91 that was later revised to C91a. The earlier models were basic and required transmission on 121.5 MHz only although those used for military purposes could transmit at 243 MHZ. To stimulate its operation, a g-switch senses the deceleration that is associated with a crash and then immediately turns the transmitters on. Initial active models had to be detected using VHF or UHF radio within a specific radius of the crash site. When the COSPAS/SARSAT satellite system came into operation in the 80s, emergency frequencies were monitored using this system. When any signal was detected, its location was estimated and communicated to a ground station. The satellite technology therefore greatly extended the capabilities and accuracy of the ELT, expanding its coverage to world-wide (Civil Aviation Authority, 2010). A new ELT specification during the early 90s incorporated several features of TSO C91a specification. It also added digital data transmission on 406 MHz capabilities to a satellite. The digital data transmitted also included the identification of the aircraft or ELT with provisions to include vehicle determined position information (usually aircraft GPS position). The satellite, on receiving this information, conveyed it to a ground terminal. The ELT is able to locate the transmission within a 28 m2 area as a system. When GPS enabled, the system can determine locations within an area of about 300 m2 (Civil Aviation Authority, 2010). Flight data recorders or Black box These recorders, also known as accident recorders become very useful when information is needed to investigate the events before a crash or disappearance of an aircraft. The black boxes, which are actually orange, and the data recovered from within them, help in analyzing safety matters, engine performance and material degradation. The devices are ICAO-regulated and carefully engineered to withstand the high forces associated with plane crush as well as the heat from any fires in the incident. To further increase its survival, the device is installed on the rear end of the aircraft where there is reduce impact force compared with other parts. The devices are designed to emit a locator beacon signal that could be used to trace it and therefore the whole aircraft. These signals could persist of 30 days and can be detected up to depths of 6000 meters (Ashford, 2010). These signals are however, greatly attenuated by severe conditions or when the aircraft becomes buried in deep rock debris. These devices have been very important in accident investigation and crash data analysis. These devices have effectively stored critical information and conversations in the cockpit which has enabled researchers get insight into causes and circumstances surrounding accidents and other technical problems. 3. Prevention of “vanishing” All efforts must be directed towards ensuring that future accidents and disappearances are avoided or minimised as much as possible. As Leveson (2004) says, new technologies continue to change the etiology of accidents and has availed different mechanisms that are used to explain the accidents. This author believes that it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of reasons why accidents occurred so that better strategies are put in place to prevent any future occurrences. Huffstetler (2014) raises his concerns about the investigation currently underway for the disappeared Malaysian aircraft. According to Huffstetler (2014), the disappearance of the aircraft has implicated a variety of legal issues that range from responsibility of investigation to international civil procedure. Given the presumed crash location in the remote Indian Ocean, it is obvious which team will lead the investigations since for this case; no nation can claim “state of occurrence”. While responsibilities might remain with the “state of registry”, there remains the need of litigation in the industry (Huffstetler, 2014). There are a variety of factors which are believed to have contributed to several aircraft accidents and fatalities. The loss of control by the airlines, which majorly contributed to these fatalities, was found to be contributed to by system and component failure, (engine and non-engine), abrupt manoeuvres, mid-air collisions, thunderstorms, wind shear, and icing conditions. At other times, the loss of control that results to such fatalities has been found to result from a combination of these factors. Disappearances of aircrafts from fatal accidents put great pressure on aircraft manufacturers while they seek to include modern technologies within the aircrafts that could assist pilots in times when immediate response is required. There is always the need to ensure that pilots are completely aware of their situation and travel environment. A study revealed that about 88% of the accidents in major airlines involving human error resulted from problems related to situational awareness (Endsley, 1995). Situational awareness will greatly determine the pilot’s response to the situation and influence his decision making process. There is great need, therefore, to ensure the development and validation of training methods that should be aimed at improving aircraft’s situational analysis. Efforts should be made to improve individual as well as team situational analysis, in addition to direction of these efforts toward situation analysis improvement through system design (Endsley & Roberson, 2013). Experts have suggested that the Malaysian aircraft was at a comfortable stage of the flight that in the case of any mechanical problems, the pilot would have had a lot of time to communicate the problem to the Air Traffic Control (Zolfagharifard, Griffiths & Woollaston, 2014). The pilots’ actions during such times will greatly depend on his awareness of the situation and his composure. Also emerging from the aircraft disappearances in recent times is the possibility of presence of uncovered and untracked boundary areas that some of the aircrafts have been believed to shift course to before disappearing. These unmonitored areas will usually be far away into the sea or between different regions or boundaries between two air traffic control territories. These areas could easily be used by terrorists or pilots with ill motives to ensure that the aircraft does not get noticed while it travels to unknown destinations. This problem will need a more integrated system for tracking and detection across borders with effective procedural directions to coordinate operations between different air traffic control centres. There are fears of pilot suicide, terrorism or pilot error to most plane disappearances, the Malaysian aircraft incident inclusive (Hinderraker, 2014). This is because, for the aircraft’s case, there are indications that deliberate steps were taken to hide the plane’s whereabouts. It has also been suggested that the plane could have travelled for four to five more hours as evidenced by satellite images before disappearing. If this was truly the case then it will be critical that increased and thorough vetting and scrutiny of both passengers and the flight crew will be done to prevent any future occurrences. It also emerged that two passengers travelling in the aircraft used stolen passports, and this has increased fears of a terrorist incident. It also means that it is not difficult to beat security apparatus in one of the world’s major airlines. This is clear indication that terrorist can come in and board planes then kidnap and divert these planes. While this has not been confirmed the case for Malaysian airlines, it remains a great possibility. The only way to avoid such cases will be to transform security efforts and approaches so that any suspected terrorists are not allowed to use the planes. Kelowa (2014) mentions that significant gaps have been noted within the traditional aircraft tracking technologies like Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, radar, radio communication and transponder. But still, these technologies are greatly used for scheduled commercial air transport sector. As Kelowa (2014) further says, the gaps in these tracking systems have been particularly relevant when tracking has to be done in remote areas where the other traditional infrastructure can be limited like outside radar coverage. Alternatively, aircrafts could be more effectively tracked using satellite technologies, as has been successfully done in other market segment for many years. Satellite technologies will allow for flight tracking even for complex low altitude operations and can span to remote locations all around the globe. It is also able to handle congested airspace and limited visibility. This technology, when implemented for the schedules flights is likely going to help controllers keep track of aircrafts and therefore minimize or even eliminated case of aircraft disappearance. Satellite technologies have provided Automated Flight Following (AFF) that can automatically send aircraft positions to operators directly. Satellite technologies have been found to be very effective and efficient since they can span all around the world and avail up to the second data. These systems however remain considerably expensive. As ... says, the AFF systems available for commercial airlines could range from $ 10, 000 to $ 100, 000 for each aircraft and this price may increase depending on the level of capabilities and complexities of the system. The high costs have been great obstacles to their adoption and successful implementation. But given the rising cases of aircraft fatalities, satellites systems offer great opportunities to improve tracking and recovery in case of accidents and disappearances. List of References Leveson, N, 2004, A New Accident Model for Engineering Safer Systems, Safety Science, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 237-270. Hinderaker, J, 2014, What happened to flight 370? Retrieved on 2nd May 2014 from < http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/03/what-happened-to-flight-370.php> Endsley, MR, 1995, A taxonomy of situational awareness errors. In Fuller R, Johnson N & McDonald N (Eds), Human Factors in Aviation Operations (pp 287-292). Aldershot, England: Avebury Aviation, Ashgate Publishing Ltd. SkyTrac, 2014, SkyTrac Uses Satellite Technology to Track Aircraft Position, SkyTrac, Kelowa, BC Kadakia, S, 2014, An Aircraft Tracking System utilizing Radar Technology in Space, Matrix Writers and Publishers, Escondido, CA Zolfagharifard, E, Griffiths, S & Woollaston, V, 2014, Was flight MH370 lost in an aeronautical black hole or did catastrophic power failure prevent air traffic control plotting its every move? Retrieved on 1st May 2014 from < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2578197/Is-Boeing-777-hiding-invisibility-cloak-lost-black-hole-Experts-try-unravel-mystery-Malaysia-Airlines-missing-aircraft.html> Ashford, P, 2010, Flight Data Recorders: the Background on the ‘Black Box’, Avionics news, 70-71 Civil Aviation Authority, 2010, Missing Aircraft Detection & Location, Technology & System Status Review Richards, WR, O’Brien K & Miller DC, 2010, New Air Traffic Surveillance Technology, retrieved on 1st May 2014 from Breiner, S. 2006, Aircraft Magnetic Navigation Failure: Appossible explanation for the disappearance of aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle before modern avionics, retrieved on 30th April 2014 from Smith, M, 2014, World’s 10 Most Mysterious Plane Disappearances and Strangest Aircraft Crashes, retrieved on 30th April 2014 from Bhattachay, R, 2012, Bermuda Triangle Famous incidents of disappearances, retrieved on 30th April 2014 from Endsley, MR & Roberson, MM, 2013, Training for situation awareness, retrieved on 2nd May 2014 from < http://www.satechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/SATrainingchapter.pdf > BBC News, 2014, How do you track a plane? Retrieved on 30th April 2014 from Appendix Figure: ADS-B airborne situational awareness (source: Richards, O’Brien & Miller, 2010) Read More