Marcos Rasberge
26th Mar 2012, 10:57
European safetyregulators aim to clarify electronic flightbag criteria as rapid advances intechnology and changes in operational use threaten to outpace previousguidance.
The European Aviation Safety Agency believes there is a pressing need to updateapprovals given the continuous technological progress and concern that improperuse of electronic flightbags constitutes a risk to flight safety.
Electronic flightbags are moving away from simply being a more economicalstorage medium for charts and other paperwork, towards replacing some of thefunctions traditionally carried out by aircraft avionics.
"However, most of the time they are not manufactured according to the samedesign and approval standards as the ones that are used in the frame ofairworthiness," says EASA.
The previous guidance - designated TGL36, dating from 2004 - is "somewhatobsolete", it adds, and needs to be updated "urgently".
It proposes to amend this material and enhance it by creating a newairworthiness and operational compliance document. This will bring its guidanceinto line with modern technical capabilities - taking into account additionalapplications, such as airport moving-map displays - and clarify the roles ofvarious parties in the flightbag approval process.
EASA highlights a number of accidents and incidents centred on performance dataand electronic flightbag design, including a serious Emirates Airbus A340tail-strike at Melbourne in 2009 and the crash of an MK Airlines Boeing747-200F at Halifax in 2004.
It adds that a Volpe Center study identified 67 occurrences related toelectronic flightbags between 1995 and 2009, while Australian and Frenchstudies have also found "numerous" events relating to erroneoustake-off parameters.
"If nothing is done, with the proliferation of the number of [flightbags]and the number of applications residing on them, the situation may deteriorateeven further in the future," EASA adds. It is seeking comments on theproposal by 18 June.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/easa-sets-out-new-efb-guidance-as-technology-quickens-369788/ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109600404472&s=12162&e=001FuAek7VhC7YJMKMT0XQagxXYVrfdeT60vmoREqm-utf41VISDRmmW6qctqSpNUvfh63sKt4cLoI_OHwUyNfyMnkk5WyDF6eJB24D C5b_MgVLPhGbnMq9wsFRzWFT8_AvjAPYfAL48jdO1xNcVohKYV2t6FeBnsZS 1CjKlnbbUfHngLjk1F37LvIks7GSyUJEREagfHy1py8Xz46ChlGV0oY8VN2n mX4iLUNhHSb26U0=)
The European Aviation Safety Agency believes there is a pressing need to updateapprovals given the continuous technological progress and concern that improperuse of electronic flightbags constitutes a risk to flight safety.
Electronic flightbags are moving away from simply being a more economicalstorage medium for charts and other paperwork, towards replacing some of thefunctions traditionally carried out by aircraft avionics.
"However, most of the time they are not manufactured according to the samedesign and approval standards as the ones that are used in the frame ofairworthiness," says EASA.
The previous guidance - designated TGL36, dating from 2004 - is "somewhatobsolete", it adds, and needs to be updated "urgently".
It proposes to amend this material and enhance it by creating a newairworthiness and operational compliance document. This will bring its guidanceinto line with modern technical capabilities - taking into account additionalapplications, such as airport moving-map displays - and clarify the roles ofvarious parties in the flightbag approval process.
EASA highlights a number of accidents and incidents centred on performance dataand electronic flightbag design, including a serious Emirates Airbus A340tail-strike at Melbourne in 2009 and the crash of an MK Airlines Boeing747-200F at Halifax in 2004.
It adds that a Volpe Center study identified 67 occurrences related toelectronic flightbags between 1995 and 2009, while Australian and Frenchstudies have also found "numerous" events relating to erroneoustake-off parameters.
"If nothing is done, with the proliferation of the number of [flightbags]and the number of applications residing on them, the situation may deteriorateeven further in the future," EASA adds. It is seeking comments on theproposal by 18 June.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/easa-sets-out-new-efb-guidance-as-technology-quickens-369788/ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109600404472&s=12162&e=001FuAek7VhC7YJMKMT0XQagxXYVrfdeT60vmoREqm-utf41VISDRmmW6qctqSpNUvfh63sKt4cLoI_OHwUyNfyMnkk5WyDF6eJB24D C5b_MgVLPhGbnMq9wsFRzWFT8_AvjAPYfAL48jdO1xNcVohKYV2t6FeBnsZS 1CjKlnbbUfHngLjk1F37LvIks7GSyUJEREagfHy1py8Xz46ChlGV0oY8VN2n mX4iLUNhHSb26U0=)