Browsing by Author "Plytus, Hanna Romanivna"

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    The ground proximity warning system of modern aircraft
    (National Aviation University, 2023-03-07) Plytus, Hanna Romanivna; Плитус, Ганна Романівна
    In the late 1960s, a series of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents, in which the pilots did not lose control of the aircraft, killed hundreds of passengers. Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) is an accident in which an aircraft strikes the ground, water, or an obstacle without the pilot flying losing control. Although a mechanical problem can be the cause of a CFIT, pilot error is the most common factor. It may be due to navigational error, weather misjudgement, lack of awareness of terrain height, or spatial disorientation. Accidents resulting from a voluntary action by the person flying, such as an act of terrorism or pilot suicide, are not considered CFIT, nor are situations where the aircraft is out of control at the time of impact.The term was invented by Boeing engineers in the late 1970s. According to Boeing, for the period 2003 to 2012, CFIT type of accident was the second most deadly after LOC (Lost Of Control), causing almost a thousand deaths in aircraft and among outsiders during this period. So, during the 1970s, numerous studies were conducted to discover the causes of these accidents. These accidents could have been avoided if the aircraft had been equipped with ground proximity warning systems (GPWS). In 1974, the Federal Aviation Administration declared GPWS mandatory on large aircraft to prevent accidents. In 2000, the FAA amended its operating rules to require that all US-registered turboprop aircraft with six or more passenger seats (excluding pilot and co-pilot seats) be equipped with an FAA-approved ground proximity warning system. The distance between the aircraft and the ground is measured by the radiosonde (or radio altimeter). Depending on the height and the flight configuration, the computer can inform the pilot of a danger by audio or visual messages. Nowadays, manufacturers and airlines are still constantly working to reduce accidents connected with CFIT. The most common solutions are improved pilot training, mainly by asking pilots to pay attention to their on-board instrumentation, but also the develop and improve of efficient safety systems, such as the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) that today became mandatory for all commercial aircrafts and not only. The main input data of modern GPWS systems are values from the radar altimeter and barometric altimeter sensors. When entering the GPWS system, these data are analyzed according to certain algorithms (which also take into account the current position of the mechanization of the wheels, the position of the chassis, etc.) by the on-board computer of the system, which then issues the appropriate visual and sound signals to the pilot.