Camera Views
 

I love the camera views of the aircraft (front view, straight down view) shown on the seat displays during a recent trip to India.

Q...

Are these cameras fitted to all commercial aircraft anyway, surely they have not been fitted just for the fascination of passengers.

And if so, why isn't there a rear view so I can see my luggage falling out of the rear hold on take off :)

I bet the CC get some stifled screams from the pax when the pilots coming in for a crosswind landing and crabbing.

... what are these cameras that you talk about?

I don't know if all airlines have them, but Air Lanka and Emirates do.

As well as the normal movies, games and entertainment channels on the seat displays they have also external camera views showing the view ahead and the view directly down from the aircraft.

You can watch the landing and the picture is superb. Whilst cruising you can also look directly down at the passing terrain.

the down view isn't so interesting, but the ahead view during take off and landing is quite spectacular. The front view camera must be mounted near the nose wheel as it clearly shows the vehicle pushing the aircraft back prior to taxiing.

But the cameras are on for the complete flight, so they are external cameras.

i have heard about these!! sounds absolutely amazing, and would definitely make a boring flight more fun! i love going into the FD and seeing just sea stretched out in front of you, or looking at the land and getting the pilots to tell me what we are flying over!!

what was even better for me was the night landings, my kids had great fun trying to pickout the runway lights in amongst the city glow.

When eventually you are on finals you can see the ALS light bars at the end of the runway sticking out of the left of it, its really easy to see if your on the correct approach or too high/low/left or right.

The A330 at MYT has them - they are fab!

They are usually on the larger a/c, ie....773, 346 380's etc to aid the pilots in actually taxying the thing. Common to have a camera on/close to the nosewheel so the pilots can keep the taxyway centreline accurately and others have them on the tail looking forwards onto the fusalage, again as an aid to driving these long things around tight turns on the tarmac.


Great for passengers too i guess when its piped into the cabin on IFE

Dozza thats a completely different system to the one used for the PAX. The pax forward/downward camera's are mounted forward of the nosewheel. The taxi aid camera's are fitted at various positions dependant on aircraft type (lower fuselage aft of nosewheel & on either side of horizontal stab on B777 & lower fuselage & top of the fin on A346).

i think i want to go on a flight just to experience this... :)

aaah well thanks for the correction, I only fly the smaller 'bus anyway.
cheers
d2k

The A330 at bmi has them - they are fab!

I first saw them ca. 18 years ago in Japan and they took my breath away at the time! Brilliant!

Swiss A340s have them and give 2 options for the passengers:
nose-wheel view or
under fuselage view.

Thai Airways new 777's have them fitted.

Emirates have had them for years.

Good aren't they?

Cameras
 

Etihad also has them on all but 4 aircraft (older leased ones)
They are great as it lets you see what is happening infront of the aircraft when taxiing and landing - but are a pain for the crew - 'cause sometimes (but not all), the pax watch it and when they see that they are near the gate upon arrival - they all start to get out of their seats!!! Groan:hmm: Just as the brakes are about to be applied!!:ugh:
Other wise they are great for the pax and crew alike, as some of the crew can see the pax screens and see exactly where the plane is..:ok:
Modern technology can be great sometimes......

Don't they get turned off during take-off and landing? Because all electrical equipment has to be turned off doesn't it, including IFE...?

vodkaholic

No they don't. the only time the views are not available is during the safety brief or announcements when all the displays are frozen to stop the kids playing games and at least make an attempt to make them listen.

Ahh ok. guess all airlines differ in this respect then, cos the one i work for the IFE has to be turned off for take off and landing.

Few years ago a far eastern airline experimented with fitting cameras on the flight deck so the pax could watch the Nigeleses' during taking off and landing. This was great till one day the passengers watched horrified as their plane smashed into a mountain!! :}

SAS has these on their long haul aircraft, and usually the main screen in the cabin features the forward looking cabin at takeoff. While all you get is taxiway lights for evening departures, the daytime departures are great. Crossing over greenland and Northern Canada the downward looking cameras give a nice view of the desolation.

Always nice to have an empty seat next to you, so you can look down and watch a movie at the same time

Not sure if it was a mountain, I thought "the passengers watched horrified as their plane smashed into a" JCB on take-off.