Page 26 - Index

flight planning. were they looking at and acting on information dissemination.
at any given time? Several apps may
• Logbook of the aircraft and even pilot º Many updates, maybe too many or
logbook. be open at the same time, but which too often.
ones were they looking at? Were they
• Aircraft position on maps and charts. looking at the same thing, same app, New EFIS
Again, this significantly increases same page? • One of the advantages of EFIS instru-
your situational awareness. ments is that they present informa-
• Was the information available, tion in a much more efficient manner
• Apps: Tailor-made app to meet the understood, and used in a way that and help pilots with their situational
needs of the company. The big chal- became a factor in an event, incident, awareness, decision-making, and
lenge here is the speed at which your or accident? Let’s take the NOTAMS workload management.
organization can update its app in pages, for example. If you have 20
the event of an operating system pages of NOTAMS and you have to go • But once the screens are turned
upgrade. Some examples: off, where do you find information?
through them, would you retain all
º Communication app between oper- the information that was presented What if it’s the only thing you have?
ator and crew. Exchange of infor- to you? It becomes a real challenge to get the
mation between operator, crew, or • How do you know what information information and retrieve as much as
even within the crew itself via WiFi, was available? Is it possible to still possible when we’re in front of black
Bluetooth, or satellite. screens.
have access to the mobile device? Is
º Weather app—provider of real-time it destroyed? Can the information • What do you do? Does the electronic
weather data. Via WiFi or satellite, be retrieved from the personal or component have a memory card? If
this allows you to see the position of company cloud? Is there a privacy yes, is it still readable?
the aircraft in relation to storm cells dilemma? What is the limit? Is there • Available information could be only
so that you can better plan your data protection? the navigation database and informs
route and stay proactive. you only that it’s up to date. Are there
º What evidence do you have? Again, any basic instruments with the
Implications and Considerations do you have access to data through needle still intact?
the cloud?
for Investigators These are all questions you need to ask
Today’s new environment brings its own yourself during the investigation.
set of challenges for the investigator. Not Classic Cockpit Instrument Design vs.
all aircraft have digital flight data record- New EFIS Flight Deck
ing systems. An investigator will have to Let’s compare the classic cockpit instru- Considerations for Fact-Finding Phase
be surrounded with computer experts ments and the new digital instruments. • Securing any digital device—corpo-
to better understand the subtleties of rate, personal, part of investigative
these systems and to get the maximum Classic: equipment. Are there legal consid-
information relevant to the investigation • Traditional data presentation. erations for securing data and data
without getting lost in the pool of data º The presentation of instruments in sources? The challenge will be to
that these same instruments can provide. a basic T shape. recover all this material. But this also
brings its own set of issues regarding
º I can ask you to draw a flight in- privacy, data protection, etc.
EFIS vs. Analog Gauges strument panel and you’ll be pretty
Remember the needle slap effect? As close to the real thing. • Recovering data in a timely fashion is
you know, from the laws of physics, with important. Is perishable information/
the force of the impact, the needle will º We know that the altimeter will intervention/deletion intentional? It’s
leave traces on the background of the be on the right, the VSI below the all a question of timing, What hap-
instrument—giving you good clues as you altimeter, etc. pens if there’s an update between the
investigate the impact speed and also the • Paper—flight libraries, charts, maps, time of the event and the interview?
rate of descent. flight plans. What version were they using? Can
What do you do with black screens on these versions still be accessed?
aircraft with digital displays? Airliners º There are duplicates as well as a • You’ll need subject-matter expertise
record of changes that companies
and more modern aircraft all have data have. to understand what digital tools
recorders, but most recreational aircraft were available and what policies
don’t. º The operations manual is very spe- and standard operating procedures
• Some important questions: What cific about what a pilot must have (SOPs) were documented to use
information was available to the in their flight bag to comply with all them.
crew? First, is it up to date? Was there aviation laws. º What language these versions are
an update published or pushed to the • Advantages of traditional methods of in, for example.
device between the time of the event disseminating information. º Compare these documented SOPs
and when you took possession of the to current practices.
device? Did they have access to all º It leaves a trail.
the required documentation? What • Limitations of traditional methods of • The forgetting curve. Interviews
26 • October-December 2021 ISASI Forum