All
← Back to Squawk list
FedEx will use smart glasses to help pilots land in emergencies
Smoke is understandably a serious danger for aircraft, and not just in life-threatening situations -- the FAA notes that there's typically one smoke-related landing per day. But how does the pilot land with a smoke-filled cockpit where they might not even see the instrument cluster, let alone the outside world? FedEx and the Osterhout Design Group have an idea. They're showing off SAVED (Smoke Assured Vision Enhanced Display -- yes, it's a forced acronym), a hybrid smart glasses… (www.engadget.com) More...
Not to be a buzz kill, so now the pilot can see exactly 2” in front of the eyes and then possibly nothing beyond depending on the severity of the smoke. I would have preferred a high volume, high flow ventilation system either manually or automatically activated with associated warnings.
I don't think you even looked at the article or you would have known that this doesn't just keep smoke out of the pilot's eyes.
To quote the article, the device "provides data from the aircraft's HUD and external cameras to help with emergency landings" -- the pilots will have access to critical flight data and probably a synthetic vision display.
To quote the article, the device "provides data from the aircraft's HUD and external cameras to help with emergency landings" -- the pilots will have access to critical flight data and probably a synthetic vision display.
Hopefully it will have a IR camera or something like that as well so that the wearer can see switches and levers within the cockpit.
HUD + Smoke Mask = See-Through. If the plane is filled with smoke you're not seeing anything past your nose anyhow so why not be able to hand fly an ILS to safety. The manual high flow ventilation idea you speak of has been in pressurized airplanes the whole time...the cabin pressure dump valve. You don't want ventilation to introduce oxygen to a fire, you just want to land and run away.
Have you ever seen a HUD on transport aircraft?
C130J
Sure, let’s dump the cabin at FL360!
I would hope that this device provides air to the pilot, at appropriate O2% and not high O2 that would feed the fire. Exhaled air would best be exhausted somewhere other than the fire environment. Vision should provide instrument output to HUD with transition to forward cameras for flare and/or rollout. With an airway/vision protective device like this, Halon or CO2 could be discharged interior to control fire without suffocating the flight crew.