Aircraft Flight Data Recorder Underwater Beacon
From PDI
Contents |
Preface
In the unfortunate event of aircraft crash, the flight data recorders are essential in discovering the cause of the crash and thus preventing further crashes due to the same failure.
In case aircraft crashes into a body of water, flight data recorders are equipped with underwater beacons, or "pingers", which are designed to provide a periodical audible signal which is used by underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to locate the flight data recorders among the debris, and activate upon the submerging of the recorder.
Problems with existing designs
Due to a number of factors, the lifetime of "pingers" is limited to approximately one month from the moment of their activation. At the same time, if the aircraft has crashed into a large body of water, it is possible that the depth at the crash site may be significant and thus require the delivery of ROVs capable at operating at extreme depths to the scene. Such delivery may take a few weeks, significantly reducing the search window before "pingers" run out of batteries.
Claims
- an underwater beacon device permanently and securely attached to the aircraft data recorder, activated by the submersion in water after a pre-set delay;
- a delayed activation underwater beacon device as claimed in claim 1, with the activation delay of 2 weeks or more;
- a delayed activation underwater beacon device as claimed in claim 2, where the delayed action is carried out by activator, such as a slowly dissolving substance;
- a delayed activation underwater beacon device as claimed in claim 2, where the delayed action is carried out by the device itself, controlled by an electronic countdown timer, which is triggered immediately upon submerging by the activator.
In layman's terms
Currently, the "pinger" is activated instantly upon splashdown. But it may take a lot of time to deliver search-and-rescue equipment to the scene, and all this time "pinger" send out signals nobody is listening to; it may happen that the "pinger" runs out of battery (or at least a good part of it) before the actual search effort can even begin. Thus, it is proposed to delay the activation of "pinger" for the amount of time which is deemed sufficiently reasonable, before it starts sending signals and depleting the batteries.
