AF incident question

[abd08]

Hi all,

As a regular passenger, I'm not privy to what goes on on the flight deck. Can anyone who knows this sort of thing confirm whether or not they have access to non computerised instrumentation? Eg say a few spirit levels and altimeter?

Specifically didn't want to use an existing thread as they're for people who in theory know what they're talking about.

Thanks

[Fursty Ferret]

Yep - either a set of standby analogue instruments (airspeed indicator / altimeter / artificial horizon) or an ISIS, which is short for an Integrated Standby Instrument System.

http://www.mediapart.fr/files/ISIS.jpg

It's not very big (three inches diagonally) and can be powered independently from other aircraft systems.

[abd08]

Thanks for the reply!

Again, as a passenger, this leaves me a bit confused. If there is backup/analogue data giving us:

- pitch/yaw data
- height
- airspeed

In an emergency situation, what would be the other key data which a pilot really needs? The only one I can possibly think of is "power output" in terms of the engines.

This is genuinely more to learn about the dynamics of how things break down to basics in emergency situations than anything else. Pilots are highly trained individuals, and this is no attempt to understand, let alone second guess anything in the AF case.

Thanks.