Air transportation is responsible for billions of passengers every year, and it’s extremely vital that airlines follow strict aviation safety standards.
However, along with the airlines, the national civil aviation authorities have to role to play in areas regarding safety. The national civil aviation authorities ought to set the standard when it comes to technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, and inspection procedures.
Five Vital Technological Components
To encourage safer flights, here are five vital technological components of aviation safety that are worth paying attention to:
1- Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS)
Arguably one of the most vital safety features ever installed is the EGPWS. Which is also known as Terrain Awareness Warning Systems (TAWS). Through sensory data, it reduces the possibility of a crash landing or a fatal ground collision.
To help the system withstand extreme fluctuations in temperatures, metal core PCBs are usually used instead of regularly printed circuit boards. By following these metal core PCB guidelines, manufacturers are able to prevent hot spots from forming close to active components.
This improves heat regulation and ensures the safety of everyone onboard the aircraft. in the 1990s, EGPWS was improved to further rely on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in order to supply pilots with a visual orientation of any points of interest near the aircraft.
2- Weather Alerts and Low-Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS)
Severe weather obviously impacts all aspects of flight, as well as airport operations. This is the reason why it’s crucial for pilots to have access to the most recent weather data alerts.
Weather alerts that include warnings for in-cloud lightning, wind shear, downbursts and hail can prevent airplanes from taking off throughout unstable weather conditions and help keep airports running smoothly.
Apart from weather alerts. LLWAS can also help pilots determine whether or not it’s safe to land, avoid microbursts, and maintain a gliding slope that ensures a safe landing.
3- Ultrasound and Resin-Filled-Structures
Between take-off, cruising altitude, and landing, the wings of an airplane – notably the wing spars – go through a lot of stress.
The safety of every flight is heavily dependent on the condition of the airplane’s wings. to keep the wing spars from failing, one technique airline crews use is ultrasound. Crews use it to check for early signs of failure through the fuselage skin.
Wing spar problems are also being avoided through the utilization of resin-filled nanostructures. These can patch cracks as soon as they’re discovered through techniques like ultrasound.
4- Ceramic Ball Bearings
Wheels and wheel bearings are very important aircraft components that have a direct impact on safety. After all, they support the whole weight of the aircraft with a surface area of solely a few square inches.
Additionally, to this, wheels accelerate anywhere from zero to 2,000 rpm in less than one second throughout landing. To ensure safe landings, the safety features should not only be up to standard but also enhanced whenever better and safer models are available.
For example, the latest ball bearings, that are made from new ceramic formulas, are better at resisting both the temperature changes and physical stress that landings entail.
5- Thermal/Acoustic Insulation
When planes crash, many of the casualties that happen are often related to fires breaking out. In order to maintain the decreasing trend of flight-related casualties.
Aircraft are currently required to switch insulation blankets covered with metalized polyethylene terephthalate with thermal/acoustic insulation. This new insulation technology not solely meets the new flame propagation standards but also effectively improves the resistance of an aircraft from an external fire.
While the current global situation doesn’t allow flights. Airlines and aviation authorities should be using this time to check their planes and make sure that they’re equipped with the most effective and latest safety components.