alph2z
17th Oct 2007, 20:51
Washington, DC - As a result of its first investigation of an accident involving an unmanned aircraft (UA), the National Transportation Safety Board today issued a total of 22 safety recommendations to address what NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said were "a wide range of safety issues involving the civilian use of unmanned aircraft."
The Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to use checklist procedures when switching operational control from a console that had become inoperable due to a "lockup" condition, which resulted in the fuel valve inadvertently being shut off and the subsequent total loss of engine power, and a lack of a flight instructor in the Ground Control Station.
"This investigation has raised questions about the different standards for manned and unmanned aircraft ......
alph2z>> Cool, the same lever controls fuel valve and camera iris, depending on console status.
Imagine doing an engine out fuel emergency on an airliner, and while playing with the fuel valve lever you realise that it's actually controlling the camera's iris (until the proper console is selected). This adds another significance to the age-old fuel valve problems that have occurred since the beginning of aviation.
I can see the NTSB looking at a recorded video of an airliner incident (or the passengers' outside view on their monitors) and seeing that the exposure on the video continually shifts from over- to under-exposed -- over and over......
.....two nearly identical pilot payload operator (PPO) consoles, PPO-1 and PPO-2. Normally, a certified pilot controls the UA from PPO-1, and the camera payload operator (typically a U.S. Border Patrol agent) controls the camera, which is mounted on the UA, from PPO-2. Although the aircraft control levers (flaps, condition lever, throttle, and speed lever) on PPO-1 and PPO-2 appear identical, they may have different functions depending on which console controls the UA.
When PPO-1 controls the UA, movement (of) the condition lever to the forward position opens the fuel valve to the engine; movement to the middle position closes the fuel valve to the engine, which shuts down the engine; and movement to the aft position causes the propeller to feather. When the UA is controlled by PPO-1, the condition lever at the PPO-2 console controls the camera's iris setting. Moving the lever forward increases the iris opening, moving the lever to the middle position locks the camera's iris setting, and moving the lever aft decreases the opening. Typically, the lever is set in the middle position......
Although the aircraft control levers (flaps, condition lever, throttle, and speed lever) on PPO-1 and PPO-2 appear identical, they may have different functions depending on which console controls the UA.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20060509X00531&ntsbno=CHI06MA121&akey=1
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The Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to use checklist procedures when switching operational control from a console that had become inoperable due to a "lockup" condition, which resulted in the fuel valve inadvertently being shut off and the subsequent total loss of engine power, and a lack of a flight instructor in the Ground Control Station.
"This investigation has raised questions about the different standards for manned and unmanned aircraft ......
alph2z>> Cool, the same lever controls fuel valve and camera iris, depending on console status.
Imagine doing an engine out fuel emergency on an airliner, and while playing with the fuel valve lever you realise that it's actually controlling the camera's iris (until the proper console is selected). This adds another significance to the age-old fuel valve problems that have occurred since the beginning of aviation.
I can see the NTSB looking at a recorded video of an airliner incident (or the passengers' outside view on their monitors) and seeing that the exposure on the video continually shifts from over- to under-exposed -- over and over......
.....two nearly identical pilot payload operator (PPO) consoles, PPO-1 and PPO-2. Normally, a certified pilot controls the UA from PPO-1, and the camera payload operator (typically a U.S. Border Patrol agent) controls the camera, which is mounted on the UA, from PPO-2. Although the aircraft control levers (flaps, condition lever, throttle, and speed lever) on PPO-1 and PPO-2 appear identical, they may have different functions depending on which console controls the UA.
When PPO-1 controls the UA, movement (of) the condition lever to the forward position opens the fuel valve to the engine; movement to the middle position closes the fuel valve to the engine, which shuts down the engine; and movement to the aft position causes the propeller to feather. When the UA is controlled by PPO-1, the condition lever at the PPO-2 console controls the camera's iris setting. Moving the lever forward increases the iris opening, moving the lever to the middle position locks the camera's iris setting, and moving the lever aft decreases the opening. Typically, the lever is set in the middle position......
Although the aircraft control levers (flaps, condition lever, throttle, and speed lever) on PPO-1 and PPO-2 appear identical, they may have different functions depending on which console controls the UA.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20060509X00531&ntsbno=CHI06MA121&akey=1
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