Hard landings are hazardous to passengers, cargo, and the aircraft itself. Airlines are required by aviation safety rules to inspect the landing gear before returning the jet to operation. ATR, an Airbus-Leonardo joint venture that makes turboprop aircraft, claims to have invented artificial intelligence (AI) that may greatly speed up the inspection process while saving airlines money.
Bumpy landings occur when an airplane descends faster than the recommended 2 or 3 feet per second. The goal is to slowly lower the plane without allowing it to float. Pilot error can result in “hard landings,” but they are usually made on purpose due to poor weather, wind gusts, or short or congested runways. Pilots prefer to refer to such landings as “solid.”
High-force bouncing on the tarmac produces structural stress on landing gear components, which is why manufacturers recommend follow-up examinations. However, determining what constitutes a firm landing and when an aircraft inspection is required is not as straightforward.
Accelerations recorded on flight data recorders, according to Boeing, are an imprecise indicator of hard landings, and employing accelerometers to quantify G forces is incorrect and unworkable.
“Boeing feels pilot judgment and landing reports remain the greatest sources of information for determining whether a hard landing has occurred.” Ordinarily, pilots land the plane well inside the permissible limits and grow accustomed to the sensation… When sink rates approach 4 feet per second, plane flight and cabin crew often describe a hard landing. All Boeing model airplanes are built for a sink rate of 10 feet per second at maximum planned landing weight and six feet per second at maximum designed takeoff weight. These values are taken into account while designing the main landing gear and nose landing gear components, as well as the wing and fuselage support structure,” according to a Boeing 737 technical website.
The hard landing inspection consists of a close visual evaluation of various structural components to decide whether additional inspections are required. Leakage of hydraulic fluid from the shock strut is one probable symptom of damage. Parts of the landing gear could be removed for a second inspection.
ATR said last week that it has created “Smart Lander,” a landing gear diagnostics service that leverages advanced data analysis to make safety conclusions more quickly. The service uses machine learning technology based on hundreds of thousands of hard landing simulations to recommend maintenance actions to operations based on the hardness of the landing and the load level absorbed by the landing gear.
Smart Lander assists operators in determining if an aircraft can continue commercial operations or must be transported to a repair base. According to ATR, the process now takes less than an hour, as opposed to more than a week prior.
“Our previous process could take 10 to 20 working days.” In a news release, David Brigante, ATR senior vice president of customer support and services, said the aircraft’s fitness to return to service required evaluations from both the ATR Design Office and Safran Landing Systems. “With Smart Lander, we will be able to significantly shorten reaction times, increasing aircraft availability, lowering customer expenses, and improving customer happiness while keeping the same level of analytical quality.”
ATSG Agreement
Air Transport Services Group, based in Wilmington, Ohio, chose Safran Landing Systems this month to convert more than 30 Boeing 767 freighters operated by its subsidiary cargo carriers. The switch to Safran wheels and carbon brakes allows ATSG to use a consistent wheel and brake design across its entire fleet of freighter aircraft equipped with carbon brakes, which are lighter than other forms of brakes.
