FAA to ban pilot use of electronic devices

On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register which “would prohibit flight crew members in operations under part 121 from using a personal wireless communications device or laptop computer for personal use while at their duty station on the flight deck while the aircraft is being operated.” The rule was prompted by a 2009 incident in which a Northwest Airlines crew flew for 78 minutes and 150 miles past their destination without talking to air traffic controllers. It was later revealed that the crew became distracted with their laptop computers while in cruise flight. Additionally, the first officer of the Cogan Airlines flight that crashed in Buffalo in 2009 had sent text messages while the plane taxied out for takeoff.

There has long been a “sterile cockpit” rule in which flight crew members are prohibited from engaging in nonessential activities that could cause distractions in critical phases of flight such as taxi, takeoff, landing and operations below 10,000 feet except for cruise flight. The NPRM notes that the new rule would expand the ban for “personal wireless communications devices and laptop computers to all phases of flight.”

There would be several exemptions to the new rule. Pilots could use their personal communications devices or laptops if the use is “directly related to operation of the aircraft, or for emergency, safety-related, or employment-related communications and the use is in accordance with air carrier procedures approved by the Administrator.” In other words, pilots can make calls related to flying the airplane, aviation emergencies (personal emergencies are specifically excluded), or if they need to call their company for an operational reason. The rule would also exempt companies that have FAA approved programs that use electronic devices such as laptops or tablets for flight operations. In recent years, several airlines have been approved to use iPads in place of paper charts and manuals.

According to the NPRM, the rule “includes, but is not limited to, devices such as cell phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants, tablets, e-readers, gaming systems, netbook computers, and notebook computers.” Under the new rule, pilots could not legally listen to music or podcasts on their iPods or read an email on their phone during any phase of flight. Ironically, although pilots would be able to legally read a newspaper after the airplane is established in cruise flight above 10,000 feet, they would not be able to read a newspaper downloaded to a tablet application or browse a newspaper site on the internet.

While well intended, the new rule may have the unintended consequence of making pilots more fatigued and less alert. In jet aircraft, some flights can be very long. A typical flight from New York to Los Angeles can last from five to six hours and transoceanic flights are normally even longer. After the airplane takes off and reaches its cruising altitude, there can be little to do for long hours. Sitting still and staring out the window with nothing to do for extended periods can be very fatigue inducing. This is especially true when the flight is a “red-eye” that is conducted on the “back side of the clock,” when the airplane is being operated during nighttime hours when the crew is normally sleeping. During such flights, having a diversion such as a newspaper, crossword puzzle, or an electronic device with music, a podcast, or an ebook can keep the crew member mentally stimulated while conducting intermittent crosschecks of the autopilot and aircraft systems.

If electronic devices are banned from the flight deck, pilots will resort to old fashioned methods of passing the time. USA Today, delivered to nearly every hotel room in the country and stocked with crossword and Sudoku puzzles, is a traditional means of passing time on long flights behind a closed cockpit door. Many flight bags contain a deck of cards, a magazine, or a paperback novel. Pulling pranks on flight attendants is also a time-honored tradition of airline pilots. If all else fails, even in the age of GPS, most airplanes are still equipped with an automatic direction finder (ADF) that is more useful for listening to Rush Limbaugh on AM radio than for navigation.

The proposed rule is not yet in effect. The FAA has established a comment period that is open until March 17. Comments can be delivered electronically via a link on the Federal Register page where the proposed rule is published. A direct link to the comment form can be found here.

Originally published on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/article/faa-proposes-ban-on-pilot-use-of-electronic-devices?cid=db_articles

FCC wants to allow electronic devices in flight

For frequent travelers, one of the biggest drawbacks to ereaders is that they can’t be used during taxi, takeoff and landing on commercial airline flights. As other passengers relax with newspapers or old fashioned books, tech savvy travelers have to twiddle their thumbs while the airplane moves to the runway and climbs through 10,000 feet. That may be about to change soon.

This week The Hill learned that Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, had sent a letter to the acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Huerta, recommending that the FAA “enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices” in flight.

Earlier this year, The Hill reported that the FAA was studying the possibility of allowing expanded use of electronic devices. While the FAA study specifically excluded the use of “voice communications” in flight, the FCC recommendation may pave the way for passengers to use tablets, ereaders, MP3 players and DVD players during all phases of flight.

Last year, American Airlines became the first airline to allow its pilots to use iPads to access charts and manuals in flight. Many passengers have undoubtedly wondered why pilots can use electronic devices when passengers cannot.

If the FAA does approve expanded use of electronic devices, passengers will likely still be limited to using “airplane mode.” The FAA will probably not allow the use of devices that transmit or receive while the aircraft is in flight. According to the FCC website, both agencies prohibit the use of wireless devices in flight “because of potential interference to the aircraft’s navigation and communication systems.”

The FCC had considered allowing in-flight use of wireless devices in 2007, but decided that there was insufficient information to determine whether airborne devices could harm networks on the ground. Passengers would still be able to purchase internet access from a provider such as Gogo if their plane is equipped.

The FAA points out that cell phones are different from other electronic devices because they transmit signals over long distances. To allow phones to be used for voice communications in flight, the air carrier would have to demonstrate that each particular model of phone would not interfere with each particular type of aircraft. The extensive testing required would make certification costs prohibitively expensive. The FAA does allow phones to be used for voice communications after landing as the plane taxies to the gate.

The FAA website also notes that most domestic airlines block the use of Skype and other voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) applications through their in-flight internet service providers. This is not because of an FAA restriction, but because most passengers don’t want to hear other passengers talking on the phone. This makes it questionable whether airlines would permit in-flight voice communications even if the FAA and FCC allowed them.

Any FAA rule change regarding electronic devices is unlikely to come before this year’s Christmas travel season. If you want to use your electronic device during your holiday air travel, keep it handy, but don’t turn it on until after takeoff.

Originally published on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/article/fcc-pushes-for-flight-use-of-electronic-devices?cid=db_articles

iPads in the cockpit

The next time you get on an airline flight, don’t be surprised if you see the pilots carrying iPads into the cockpit. Don’t worry. They won’t be planning to catch up their ebook reading or play Angry Birds while enroute. Instead, iPads are replacing paper maps and charts for an increasing number of pilots.

When you see an airline pilot walking through the terminal carrying a rolling suitcase with another smaller bag strapped to its back, it isn’t because he needed more room for his clothes. The smaller bag contains maps, charts, the aircraft flight manual, and company operating procedures. These chart cases often weigh as much as 50 pounds, almost all of which is paper. That is a lot of dead trees.

Now new technology available in the iPad allows all of these maps and books to be contained in one small, lightweight package. The iPad can replace an entire suitcase of books.

IPads have been used by private pilots for years, but were only recently approved for airline use by the FAA. In December 2011, American Airlines became the first of the major airlines to receive FAA approval to replace its paper charts and manuals with iPads. It was quickly followed by United.

IPads are also easier to update than the paper charts they replace. Maps and charts are typically revised every two weeks. Under the old system, pilots were required to thumb through their map binders to find the outdated charts, remove them, and then replace them with the new charts. For companies that fly all over the country or world, this was a time consuming process. Updating outdated pages in the manuals was a similarly lengthy process. With an iPad, updates can be accomplished in a matter of minutes with the push of a button.

Ipads have additional uses for pilots as well. Paperwork can be transmitted via text message or email, rather than carried by hand. When a maintenance problem or broken item is discovered, it may be easier to simply take a picture and send it to the mechanics than describing the problem in detail over the radio. Pilots can obtain weather updates easier with an iPad than through the old process of calling their dispatcher and having him check the weather reports at the destination. This is especially useful when looking at the radar images of a line of thunderstorms. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Even though many airliners are equipped with in-flight wireless internet, many companies will probably be reluctant to allow their pilots to use the internet in flight. Memories of the Northwest Airlines crew that overflew their destination while looking at a computer are probably still fresh in the minds of many airline policymakers and chief pilots.

Nevertheless, as the internet becomes more ubiquitous and it’s utility to airline flight operations is shown, this will likely change. It would be useful for pilots to have a big picture of weather systems from composite radar rather than relying on the head-on view currently provided by airborne weather radar installed in the airplane even though there is a slight lag in the radar information provided by online weather sites. Airline scheduling departments would also appreciate the ability to notify crewmembers of schedule changes while the airplane is still in flight (although crewmembers might not be so appreciative).

Ipads and similar devices are the future of aviation charts and manuals. The possibilities are limited only by the imaginations of pilots and programmers. With the FAA already considering whether to allow mobile phones to be used in flight, in the not-too-distant future flight crews may never have to put their iPads into airplane mode.

This article was originally published on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/aviation-in-national/ipads-the-cockpit

A Pilot's Perspective On the Northwest Laptop Incident

There has been much discussion recently of the unfortunate Northwest Airlines crew that became distracted and flew 150 miles past their destination. The crew flew for 78 minutes without talking to air traffic controllers (ATC) and only became aware of their mistake when a flight attendant called to ask when they would arrive.

Northwest Airlines Flight 188 was enroute from San Diego to Minneapolis (MSP) when the incident occurred. While the Airbus A320 cruised at FL370 (37,000 feet), the crew apparently took out their laptop computers and became engrossed in a program that helped them submit bids for their monthly schedules. At some point, they missed a call from ATC telling them to change to the next sector’s frequency. When they missed the frequency change, they soon flew out of the range of the transmitter for the frequency they were listening to.

This is not unusual in itself. There have been several instances in my flying career in which I have suddenly realized that I have not heard an ATC transmission for some time. It seems to be especially common in the western states where there are fewer controllers covering larger areas, but it does happen in the east at times.

The standard procedure in the case of lost contact for ATC is to attempt to contact the aircraft on the emergency frequency, 121.5 MHZ. This is commonly referred to as the “guard” frequency. For years, the FAA has encouraged pilots to monitor this frequency on backup radios. In addition to providing an alternate method of ATC contact, it also allows pilots to listen for aircraft in distress that might not be heard by ground stations.

If the aircraft cannot be contacted on guard, ATC expects it to follow a predetermined route and altitude. When the pilots realize that they are out of contact, they normally take steps to find the appropriate ATC frequency for their area and reestablish contact.

In the case of the Northwest crew, the problem was that they were so engrossed in their computers that they never realized that they were out of contact. They should have realized that something was wrong as they drew closer to Minneapolis with a clearance from ATC to start their descent into the airport. Since the autopilot flew the airplane 150 miles past MSP without drawing their attention away from their computers, it is apparent that they were not paying much attention to the airplane or their location. This is why they are currently in trouble with the FAA.

It is tempting for pundits to say that the pilots should have no distractions in the cockpit. This is also unrealistic. A flight from San Diego to Minneapolis can take three to four hours depending on a number of variables such as aircraft speed, wind speed at cruising altitude, weather, and other air traffic. Some flights can be even longer. The aircraft that I currently fly has transcontinental range. A trip from the east coast to the west coast, slowed by westerly winds, can take as long as six hours.

Even though the flight might take several hours, the pilots are not constantly working. The busiest times of the flight are the takeoff and climb phase and the descent and landing phase. It typically takes about half an hour to take off from the airport and climb to cruising altitude. Similarly, it takes about half an hour to descend and make an approach and landing at the end of the trip. That leaves several hours of cruise flight in which the pilots have little to do except talk to ATC, monitor the autopilot’s flying, and monitor the aircraft systems. Since many of these flights are just one part of a long duty day, often with little rest, and are frequently made on “the back side of the clock,” when people are normally sleeping, the long periods of inactivity at cruise flight can easily lead to mind-numbing boredom and drowsiness.

Boredom and drowsiness are more than just an annoyance. In extreme cases, pilots can nod off to sleep. In other cases, this fatigue can negatively affect the ability of pilots to perform their jobs. Studies in pilot fatigue show that the effects of pilot fatigue can cause slow reaction times and lead to degraded decision making. To keep themselves sharp, it is not uncommon for pilots to bring distractions into the cockpit.

I have never seen any pilot use a laptop computer in flight, but other distractions are more common. Some pilots bring reading material, DVD or MP3 players, crossword puzzles or Sudoku, or paperwork such as schedule bids or chart revisions. Even if pilots bring nothing extra into the cockpit, most airliners are equipped with an ADF radio that can pick up commercial AM radio broadcasts. Having something to focus on actually helps pilots keep their minds sharp and reduce fatigue on long flights.

Try to imagine sitting in a small room with another person for four hours. You cannot get up and walk around. You can’t watch television. You can’t take a nap.
You can’t do anything except monitor a few screens and gauges or talk to your seatmate. Now imagine that you do the same thing several times a day and as many as twenty days a month. That situation is similar to sitting in a cockpit at cruise for an airline pilot.

To the confinement is added the problem of airline crew schedules. As airlines lay off (furlough) their employees, the remaining crews fly tougher schedules. The FAA allows airlines to schedule their crews with as little as eight hours of rest. This means that the crew has only eight hours to travel from the airport to the hotel, eat, sleep, shower, dress, and travel back to the airport to start their next day of flying. While airline crews are limited to eight hours of scheduled flying per day, their duty day can last as long as sixteen hours (unless further limited by union contract or company policy).

These problems are compounded by jet lag as the crew crosses multiple time zones (in both directions) and the fact that a crew can have their schedule alternate between extremely early and late flights, which makes it difficult for one’s body to adjust and causes sleep problems. The FAA and airlines would take a dim view of pilots reporting to work after drinking alcohol, but the Federal Aviation Regulations regarding crew rest and airline scheduling policies ensure that many crews report to work with the physiological equivalent of several stiff drinks.

The FAA investigation may ultimately reveal that some or all of these factors were involved in the Northwest crew’s problems. Regardless of the circumstances of this particular flight, the issue of fatigue and boredom is one that many crews face on a daily basis in the real world of jet aviation. Congress and the FAA should not hastily make rules to ban all diversions from the cockpit in cruise flight. Such a rule would be unenforceable and unnecessary. If puzzles and electronic devices are banned from the cockpit, there’s always the ADF.

Sources: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-10-26-northwest-pilots_N.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-10-25-northwest-answers_N.htm
http://aeromedical.org/Articles/Pilot_Fatigue.html
Palwaukee, IL
November 4, 2009