1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,360 We've all heard that flying is the safest way to travel, and statistically it is. 2 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,440 Even as our world's airspace becomes more crowded, flying today is actually becoming 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:16,440 safer. 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,920 But unfortunately, fatal aircraft accidents can still occur. 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:24,800 That's why researchers in the Aviation Safety Program are working on revolutionary technologies 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,520 that may make fatal aircraft accidents a thing of the past. 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:34,280 The Single Aircraft Accident Prevention Project, or SAP, is part of the Aviation Safety Program 8 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:39,800 that is developing new technologies that may help pilots recover and safely land an aircraft 9 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:41,680 from a potentially fatal event. 10 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:46,320 I spoke with John Foster in the Vehicle Dynamics Branch at NASA Langley to find out more about 11 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:47,320 SAP. 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:53,520 The SAP project is developing systems that will anticipate failures on the airplane before 13 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,600 they occur and help the pilot recover the airplane if an out-of-control event should 14 00:00:58,600 --> 00:00:59,600 occur. 15 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,960 What's an example of an out-of-control flight situation? 16 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,920 Well, there are a number of factors that can contribute to an airplane loss-of-control 17 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,440 accident. 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,280 These factors can be both internal or external to the airplane. 19 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:18,340 Some external factors may include severe weather or just poor visibility. 20 00:01:18,340 --> 00:01:23,340 Some internal factors, though, could include some failure in the control system as well 21 00:01:23,340 --> 00:01:27,620 as a structural failure or just an inappropriate crew input. 22 00:01:27,620 --> 00:01:31,860 In many of these situations, catastrophic failures cause the pilots to lose control 23 00:01:31,860 --> 00:01:35,220 of the airplane, resulting in a fatal accident. 24 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:38,580 Researchers in the SAP project are working on new technologies, which they hope will 25 00:01:38,580 --> 00:01:42,020 prevent these types of accidents from ever occurring again. 26 00:01:42,020 --> 00:01:45,940 They're developing a series of revolutionary systems that will not only detect and predict 27 00:01:45,940 --> 00:01:50,820 system or component failures before they become severe, but are also developing automatic 28 00:01:50,820 --> 00:01:55,900 control recovery systems, which will actually help pilots recover an airplane from an upset 29 00:01:55,900 --> 00:01:56,900 situation. 30 00:01:56,900 --> 00:01:59,140 Okay, so how do these systems help a pilot out? 31 00:01:59,140 --> 00:02:00,940 I mean, how do they work? 32 00:02:00,940 --> 00:02:05,860 Well, the vehicle health management system is being developed, which will continuously 33 00:02:05,860 --> 00:02:12,100 monitor the airplane's health and compare that to the math model for a healthy airplane. 34 00:02:12,100 --> 00:02:17,660 In case a disturbing trend or an anomaly occurs, it can send that information to the 35 00:02:17,660 --> 00:02:22,260 ground crews, and they can take the appropriate maintenance action to fix the part after the 36 00:02:22,260 --> 00:02:23,260 airplane lands. 37 00:02:23,260 --> 00:02:25,300 Wow, kind of like an onboard doctor. 38 00:02:25,300 --> 00:02:26,300 Exactly. 39 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:27,620 That's why it's called health monitoring. 40 00:02:27,620 --> 00:02:33,620 Another system being developed as part of the SAP project is the control recovery system. 41 00:02:33,620 --> 00:02:37,820 This system is being designed to help the pilot in case the airplane gets into a loss 42 00:02:37,820 --> 00:02:39,820 of control situation. 43 00:02:39,820 --> 00:02:45,020 That system will carry a math model of a normal maneuvering airplane on board. 44 00:02:45,020 --> 00:02:50,020 And if the system detects that the airplane is about to enter a loss of control situation, 45 00:02:50,020 --> 00:02:55,100 it can alert the pilot and help him to recover the airplane, or it can automatically recover 46 00:02:55,100 --> 00:02:57,060 the airplane for the pilot. 47 00:02:57,060 --> 00:03:01,140 These systems will not only be able to help a pilot regain control of an aircraft quickly, 48 00:03:01,140 --> 00:03:05,620 but will also be able to help land an aircraft that has suffered catastrophic damage. 49 00:03:05,820 --> 00:03:10,220 With these new systems on board commercial planes, pilots will be able to maintain safe 50 00:03:10,220 --> 00:03:15,300 flight even under the most adverse flight conditions, potentially making fatal crashes 51 00:03:15,300 --> 00:03:16,300 a thing of the past. 52 00:03:16,300 --> 00:03:20,500 Okay, so the systems you've mentioned are obviously computer systems, but we're standing 53 00:03:20,500 --> 00:03:21,860 here in a wind tunnel. 54 00:03:21,860 --> 00:03:23,220 How does wind tunnel testing help? 55 00:03:23,220 --> 00:03:27,040 Well, wind tunnels are used to develop pilot training simulators. 56 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:32,460 We can take the data out of the wind tunnel for extreme flight conditions and put that 57 00:03:32,460 --> 00:03:37,900 in the simulator and allow the pilot to experience an out-of-control event and conduct training 58 00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:40,940 to learn how to recover from such a situation. 59 00:03:40,940 --> 00:03:46,100 Our goal is to provide the most realistic training possible for the pilots in case they 60 00:03:46,100 --> 00:03:48,420 would enter a loss-of-control situation. 61 00:03:48,420 --> 00:03:52,980 John, how will these systems be tested before being implemented on an airplane? 62 00:03:52,980 --> 00:03:57,780 Well, there are several methods that we can use to test the systems before they are actually 63 00:03:57,780 --> 00:04:00,340 implemented in the airplane. 64 00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:06,020 One is to use a subscale, dynamically scaled flying model of the airplane. 65 00:04:06,020 --> 00:04:12,260 In that model, which is remotely controlled, we can install the actual systems in onboard 66 00:04:12,260 --> 00:04:18,060 computers and then fly the model through various out-of-control flight conditions and then 67 00:04:18,060 --> 00:04:20,940 see how the system works to recover the airplane. 68 00:04:20,940 --> 00:04:23,180 What are your hopes for the future of this project? 69 00:04:23,180 --> 00:04:25,500 I mean, what are the future goals of SAP? 70 00:04:25,820 --> 00:04:31,540 Well, flying is already a very safe form of transportation, but accidents still occur. 71 00:04:31,540 --> 00:04:36,260 And our goal in this research is to develop systems that will specifically help reduce 72 00:04:36,260 --> 00:04:38,540 those kind of accidents and save lives.