Aviation

Atlas Air crew lost control 18 seconds before black box stopped recording

Engineers at the National Transportation Safety Board’s Office of Research and Engineering Vehicle Recorder Division completed the initial review of the Atlas Air Flight 3591 cockpit voice recorder Saturday evening and recovered the airplane’s flight data recorder Sunday.

Three people (the two pilots for the flight and a non-revenue jump-seat pilot) died when Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767-300 cargo jet, crashed in the muddy marshland of Trinity Bay Feb. 23, 2019, about 40 miles from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The airplane was destroyed. The airplane was carrying cargo for Amazon.com Inc., and the US Postal Service from Miami to Houston.

Directors from the Office of Research and Engineering and the Office of Aviation Safety conducted an audition of the CVR as part of the NTSB’s ongoing investigation of the accident. The audition revealed the following information, which is preliminary and subject to change as the investigation continues:

The length of the recording is approximately two hours and was obtained from a download of a solid-state type cockpit voice recorder.

The recording included the final portion of the flight; however, the quality of the audio is poor.

There are times during the recording when the content of crew discussion is difficult to determine, at other times the content can be determined using advanced audio filtering.

The crew was in communication with air traffic control and were being provided radar vectors for the runway 26L approach into George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Crew communications consistent with a loss control of the aircraft began approximately 18 seconds prior to the end of the recording.

The flight data recorder arrived at the NTSB’s Recorder Lab Sunday at 11:45 p.m. The memory module was disassembled, cleaned and dried, and download of the data was achieved Monday afternoon. Initial review of the data revealed:

The accident flight was captured, and the FDR contained a total of about 54 hours of data from 17 flights.

There were approximately 350 parameters recorded by the FDR detailing the motion of the aircraft and operation of its engines, flight controls and other systems.

NTSB recorder investigators are currently verifying and validating the FDR data, and the NTSB plans to provide a summary in an investigative update in a few days.

Aviation

Airbus Plans Cockpit Toilet to Make Single-Pilot Operations a Reality

In a bold move aimed at cutting costs, Airbus is exploring the possibility of installing a potty-style toilet right behind the Captain’s seat on its A350 long-haul aircraft. According to the reports from paddleyourownkanoo.com

This proposal is part of the ongoing effort to implement Extended Minimum Crew Operations (eMCO), a concept that could revolutionize the aviation industry by reducing the number of pilots required on ultra-long-haul flights.

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Currently, on long flights, two pilots stay in the cockpit while the others rest in a separate compartment. However, under eMCO, one pilot could be alone in the cockpit for up to three hours while the other sleeps. The goal is to reduce crew costs and improve airline efficiency, as fewer pilots would be needed for these flights.

But this proposal has raised concerns from pilot unions, who worry about safety and the challenges of single-pilot operations. To address the issue of bathroom breaks, Airbus suggests installing a radio-equipped toilet in the cockpit, allowing the pilot to use it without leaving their seat.

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If the pilot needs to use the toilet, the second pilot would have to be woken up, terminating the eMCO process temporarily.

If successful, Airbus plans to begin testing this system on its A350 aircraft as soon as 2027, with single-pilot operations possibly being introduced on freighter Airbus A320s within the next five years.