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PIC nor the captain switched the primary additional data and context to accident HCR-25 (8). Although this is an improve-
altimeter to the right-hand side. Therefore, investigators. While more-limited FDR re- ment, the EAFR does not replace the de-
the B-737 flight computer controlling the cording data may describe what occurred tailed and larger storage of NVM on other
autothrottle used incorrect altitude data during the accident, NVM can provide smaller components.
on approach to the airport. With a reading information from many previous flights, A component that would greatly benefit
of -8 feet, the autothrottle retarded for a revealing trends showing why an acci- from NVM analysis is angle-of-attack
flare. The B-737 autopilot detected the dent ultimately occurred. In both Turkish (AOA) sensors on aircraft. With the current
slow airspeed and pitched nose up for a Airlines Flight 1951 and Helios Airways controversy surrounding the Boeing 737-
flare, which caused the aircraft to stall on Flight 522, NVM data provided trends MAX 8 accidents involving Lion Air in 2018
short final. The FDR contained the past 25 that investigators utilized and applied and Ethiopian Airlines in 2019, investiga-
hours of data, but the Dutch Safety Board to existing and future aircraft. As more tors would gain information from looking
(DSB) relied on the radio altimeters’ NVM sensors become digitized, and potentially at NVM of AOA sensors of all previous
to assist. The radio altimeters stored much contain NVM, investigators can, and must, MAX 8 flights and other airframes that
more data than the FDR, as chips inside find, read, analyze, and act upon the data use an AOA indicator. Currently, the main
each radio altimeter recorded the past contained in them. source of data on AOA sensor failures is
2,000 flights, recording 217 interruptions. The investigator can also look to other pilot-driven NASA reports in the Aviation
These flights contained 58 bad readings sources of NVM that are not installed in Safety Reporting System (9). Reliable,
on altimeter serial number 1141 and three the airframe. For example, passengers’ cell robust, and factual data from NVM would
bad readings on serial number 1157, the phone data may be used to track GPS and assist investigators, manufacturers, and
failing radio altimeter. Investigators did accelerometer data. This has been used carriers in improving safety and reliability
not find out why the radio altimeter had by the U.S. National Transportation Safety of new sensors.
produced erroneous values; however, the Board (NTSB) in railroad accidents—the As well as providing aircraft investiga-
extended NVM on the radio altimeters NSTB analyzed data from 80 different tors with data that would otherwise not be
provided more context regarding the histo- passenger devices in the investigation of available due to regulations, as in the
ry of the behaviors of the altimeters (5). the Amtrak 188 derailment in Philadel- DHC-6-300 case, NVM also allows larg-
phia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., in 2015 (7). This er-scale trends to be seen in investigations.
In the Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 acci-
GA Flight in Papua, New Guinea technique can be implemented into avia- dent, the radio altimeter NVM provided
As well as helping investigators in major tion applications so that investigators can more context to the crash, showing a
airline accidents, the use of data from collect more data leading to the incident. pattern of incorrect altimeter readings that
NVM sources is critical in aircraft that do Personal devices may also give investiga- went uncorrected. Adding NVM to new
not meet the requirements to carry an tors an eyewitness view of the flight. For components can also assist in using past
FDR or CVR. In 2009, a DHC-6-300 Twin example, if a passenger filmed the cabin in flights for current accidents. Learning from
Otter enroute from Port Moresby to Koko- extreme turbulence, this could give inves- these accidents, a challenge to investiga-
da in Papua, New Guinea, impacted terrain tigators an idea of flight conditions before tors, and especially operators, is to collect
mid-flight. the accident occurred. and analyze this data more frequently.
The DHC-6-300 does not meet the max- New measures are being taken to im- Taking proactive measures in data analysis
imum takeoff weight requirement for air prove flight data by component manu- of components will not only assist carriers
carrier operations, negating the require- factures. General Electric is placing its in preventative measures, but also can be
ment for an FDR on board. new enhanced airborne flight recorder applied at a multicarrier scale, thus
Eleven miles south of the airstrip, the (EAFR) into the Boeing 787 and 777x fleet. assisting component manufacturers in
aircraft crashed due to controlled flight The EAFR will allow 50 hours of recorded innovating safer technology and assisting
into terrain (CFIT). memory, compared to the 25 hours of the the trend of creating safer air travel for all.
However, the Twin Otter was equipped
with a Latitude Technology Skynode S100,
a small data-logging device that can be References
installed in smaller aircraft that do not op- 1. U.S. Air Carrier Safety Data. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. [Online] April 2018.
erate under air carrier regulations. Investi- 2. Tassia Sipahutar, Kyunghee Park & Eko Listiyorini. Indonesia Finds Cockpit Voice Recorder of Crashed
gators recovered the device at the accident Lion Air Jet. Bloomberg. [Online] Jan. 13, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-14/
site and sent it to the manufacturer for indonesia-finds-cockpit-voice-recorder-of-crashed-lion-air-jet.
analysis. This device stores data regard- 3. [Online] https://aerospace.honeywell.com/en/products/safety-and-connectivity/flight-recorders.
ing takeoffs, landings, ground speed, and 4. AAIASB. Helios Airways Flight HCY522, Boeing 737-31S at Grammatiko Hellas on Aug. 14, 2005. 2006.
GPS position and altitude. The Australian 5. Dutch Safety Board. Crashed During Approach, Boeing 737-800 near Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Feb. 25,
Transport Safety Board (ATSB) used this 2009. The Hague: s.n., 2010.
data to recreate the flight path, with data 6. Austrailian Transport Safety Bureau. Controlled Flight into Terrain 11 Kilometers Southeast of Kakoda Air-
taken about every seven minutes to track strip, Papua, New Guinea, Aug. 11, 2009. 2010.
the flight until the crash. It did not rely on 7. National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB Issues Second Update on its Investiation into the Amtrak Derail-
other less-factual sources of data, such as ment in Philadelpha. 2015.
ATC recordings or eyewitnesses (6). 8. Rosenkrans, Wayne. Fade-Free Memory. s.l.: Flight Safety Foundation, 2008.
In each of these cases, NVM provided 9. Beene, Alan Levin & Ryan. Sensors Linked to Boeing 737 Crashes Vulnerable to Failure. s.l.: Bloomberg, 2019.

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