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Boeing 787s To Create Half a Terabyte of Data Per Flight

Posted by samzenpus on from the peanut-tracking dept.

Qedward writes "Virgin Atlantic is preparing for a significant increase in data as it embraces the Internet of Things, with a new fleet of highly connected planes each expected to create over half a terabyte of data per flight. IT director David Bulman said: 'The latest planes we are getting, the Boeing 787s, are incredibly connected. Literally every piece of that plane has an internet connection, from the engines, to the flaps, to the landing gear. If there is a problem with one of the engines we will know before it lands to make sure that we have the parts there. It is getting to the point where each different part of the plane is telling us what it is doing as the flight is going on. We can get upwards of half a terabyte of data from a single flight from all of the different devices which are internet connected.'"

11 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. internet-connected plane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What could go wrong?

    1. Re:internet-connected plane by ls671 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I just hope they can only see information and have no control from the ground.

      Yeah, right, it seems to ring a bell for me, let's see... OK, let's say: like having a read-only access to a web-site?

      Hopefully the plane pushes the data if it reports in real-time and the plane doesn't have any listening sockets accepting connections on some kind of wireless network. Pilots could also transmit problem reports through radio...

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    2. Re:internet-connected plane by drakaan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Instrumentation has been part of the stack of internet protocols for many years. It's called SNMP, and it's certainly possible to implement as read-only.

      --
      "Murphy was an optimist" - O'Toole's commentary on Murphy's Law
    3. Re:internet-connected plane by wvmarle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not likely that it'd be streamed in real time.

      500 GB per flight, say six hours of flight time for an average flight, and I'm at almost 24 MB/s on data production. That's 240 Mb/s. 4G mobile phone can't do that, and when flying you'll often be out of reach of a mobile phone network. So you need satellite - while that may be able to handle the data, it's costing you an arm and a leg. Besides, most of the data is not that interesting.

      What would be viable, though, is for errors to be automatically transmitted. Like an engine that detects an anomaly, indicating it needs maintenance, that such a little bit of information is forwarded to the ground.

  2. Internet != Network by scsirob · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Connecting flight controls to "The Internet" would be the stupidest of all ideas. If they do this, anyone getting on board would be a candidate for the Darwin awards.

    I'm sure they meant to say that all these systems are networked together, using ARINC or other aviation network technologies.

    --
    To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
  3. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by ls671 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    He,he, I kind of never got used to sudo. On all systems I ever had access to, simply typing "sudo bash" gives me the old root shell...

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
  4. Re:Currently producing zero bytes by jimicus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't know that it's all that frivolous.

    Your average airline is running on razor-thin margins. They do NOT want a plane grounded for any longer than is absolutely necessary - because a grounded plane isn't earning any money. If an airliner can signal any faults several hours before it lands, the maintenance crew have advance warning so they know exactly what to look at (and maybe even have parts available) the instant it touches down rather than have it sitting on the tarmac waiting for parts to arrive.

  5. flights? what flights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "We can get upwards of half a terabyte of data from a single flight". Well, provided they're actually able to fly, which is not the case, last time I checked.

  6. Re:Currently producing zero bytes by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maintenance data is far more than a 'tickbox on a marketing sheet', it's the absolute bedrock for efficiently operating a large fleet of... well, anything. Cars, trucks, planes, etc. That airlines and airframe manufacturers can and do collect and analyze tons of maintenance and operational data is a large part of why air travel is so safe and (relatively) cheap.

  7. Only on /.... by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...could a discussion about plane travel and safety descend into a bickering about the correct use of the Linux console...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. Re:What could go wrong? by fnj · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As in most cases where invoked, the grammar nazi disclaimer is not necessary here. Noting a really amusing spelling error in a non-hostile way could never be taken as nazi behavior by rational beings.