RELAX: REaL time transmission of flight information and blAck boXes data

Abstract

This position paper aims at proposing the use of satellite-based communication systems, which will play an ever increasing role in the future aeronautical communication services, to enable the real time transmission of flight information and black boxes data. Besides the immediate availability of the black boxes data after an air crash, the amount and the kind of the recorded data may be augmented, by including for example cockpit images. The RELAX system will also increase the aircraft safety level, reduce the accident rates and improve the monitoring process overall performance. In this paper, we briefly review existing proposals on this topic, list possible advantages and drawbacks and sketch a draft system architecture