|
How It Works
The Quantitative
Condition Alerting and Analysis Support
(QCAAS) system automatically, in
real-time,
-
Monitors
for selected specific conditions and
events (on the aircraft) for which an
inspection is required, gathers or
processes flight parameters required for
maintenance analysis, and broadcasts the
information down to a ground station
network for awareness and use by
maintenance and flight operations
personnel;
-
Estimates and reports
tail load information through a virtual
sensor system; and
-
Calculates and provides
cumulative statistics on encountered
loads.
By providing real-time,
objective knowledge of the occurrence of
aircraft maintenance events, maintenance
and operational decisions can be made to
minimize the impact and maximize the
benefits of on-condition maintenance.
The QCAAS system consists
of software only (onboard
software and a ground station
database/interface) and maximizes the
use of the myriad sensors, computational
capabilities, and communication networks
(e.g. ACARS and other datalinks) already
available on most commercial airliner,
business jets, and military aircraft.
Since the software is considered
non-flight critical and the outputs will
comprise aircraft operations information
only, it will not require FAA
certification.
QCAAS provides real-time
alerts and supporting flight data for
the following events: severe loads
encounters, severe maneuvers, maneuver nz,exceedance,
flap overspeeds, landing gear speed
exceedance, maximum operating airspeed
exceedance, cabin pressure differential
exceedance, cabin decompression, hard
and overweight landings, landing with
excess fuel imbalance, brake
overheating, tail lateral and vertical
load exceedances, and windshear
encounters.
Two user interfaces at
the ground will 1) enable maintenance
personnel to view, sort, and track the
QCAAS reports and corresponding
information and 2) alert flight
operations personnel that a maintenance
inspection is required for one of their
aircraft in service. The maintenance
user interface will also enable the user
to view and analyze cumulative load
statistics for individual aircraft and
across fleet types.
|
Feature |
Advantage |
Benefit |
|
Real-time
monitoring and reporting of need
for certain inspections (see
list above) |
-
Quantitative
determination of need for
inspection
-
Autonomous
reporting
-
Real-time
awareness
-
Small Report Size
|
-
Enables
on-condition maintenance
-
Eliminate
unnecessary inspections (savings
in manpower, time, money,
operational impact)
-
Real-time
notification of inspection need
enables Maintenance to develop a
game plan for resolution of the
problem (can reduce the overall
time an aircraft is
out-of-service for an
inspection)
-
Enables aircraft
operators to meet NTSB high load
inspections recommendation |
|
Supplemental
Flight Data for the Event |
-
Quantitative
summary of an event prior to
aircraft landing
-
Automated
-
Small Report Size |
-
Enhances event
analysis and preparation by
Maintenance
-
Saves Maintenance
time and labor by removing need
to pull flight data from
aircraft
-
Enhances
maintenance decision making |
|
Tail Load
Estimation |
-
Tail load
information without additional
sensor/hardware
|
-
Addresses NTSB
recommendation
-
Enhances
maintenance decision-making
through improved understanding
of loads experienced at
locations other than the CG |
|
Cumulative Load
Statistics Generator |
-
Concise
representation of experienced
loads (CG and tail)
-
Automated report
-
Small report size
-
Enables tracking
of aircraft exposure to loads
-
Enables
comparison of loads experience
for aircraft of the same fleet
type |
-
Simplifies the
tracking and analysis of A/C
exposure to loads (reduces
Maintenance man-hours)
-
Removes need to
pull flight data for loads
analysis
-
Enables a more
quantitative approach to
aircraft retirement or
operational limits/life
extension decisions
-
Could be used to
optimize scheduled maintenance
-
Addresses FAA
proposed rule change regarding
prevention of Widespread Fatigue
Damage (WFD)
|
|
User Interfaces (Maintenance and
Flight Operations) and Database |
-
Immediate & simultaneous
awareness of aircraft inspection
needs by Maintenance & Flight
Ops
-
Collaborative tool regarding
inspections
-
Shared information |
-
Improves communication and
collaboration between Maint. And
Flight Ops
-
Improves decision making
regarding operational schedules
-
Reduces impacts of inspections
on operational schedule |
|
