Pneumatic System Reliability Assessment for B737NG Operators

Abstract

This paper deals with the operational issues of aircraft components and their reliability, from the perspective of the aircraft operators. Modern airliners are equipped with advanced ways of data collection of most flight and technical parameters that can be used to optimize their operations. This study deals with the pneumatic system (ATA36 chapter) of the B737NG aircraft that is susceptible to failures in the operations, leading to the aircraft becoming unserviceable for periods of time. A novel approach is proposed to analyze the system behavior by its modeling by means of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Fault-tree analysis, using real operational data. Next, this paper proposes simple operational measures than can avoid the aircraft on ground (AOG) states and decrease unexpected expenses due to the system failure. The results show that this new approach is very practical and can have significant effect on the airline operations, largely reducing extra costs and flight delays and allowing for better planning of aircraft maintenace.