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Boeing 787 "Blacklisted" From Some Air Traffic Control Services (flightglobal.com)

Posted by timothy on from the flight-oh-oh-nine-please-repeat-your-position dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A software glitch causes the Boeing 787 to report its position incorrectly, which has led Australia and Canada to 'blacklist' the aircraft from using ADB-S and until it is resolved the latest Boeing is treated as an aircraft without ADS-B capabilities. The practical implication is that the aircraft is not allowed to use reduced separation procedures and an maximum altitude limit of 29,000 feet was also considered. Boeing denies that the bug causes a safety hazard because existing services (radar) still allow safe operation. A bugfix is coming to restore ADS-B functionality.

3 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Re:at least is not tcas off by digitig · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd be interested to know where the glitch is. If it's just in the ADS-B system then with the restrictions in the article it just costs time and money. But if it's in the navigation system then the aircrew and TCAS will have wrong information about where the aircraft is, which is far more worrying.

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  2. The underlying problem ... by PPH · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... is that the problem was traced back to the 787 avionics network. Information sent from the GPS (where the data originates) to the transponders (where it is sent out to air traffic control). This is the same network which attracted attention when Boeing asked for a special condition exempting the 787 from a requirement to isolate critical functions from things like the passenger entertainment system. Now, nobody has tracked down exactly what caused this communications glitch. And they may never do so. But their innovations may be coming back to bite them in the ass.

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    Have gnu, will travel.
  3. Re:at least is not tcas off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From what I gather the pilot/co-pilot are receiving the correct information, the article notes one of the first instances where the issue was noticed "The controllers alerted the crew by radio, but the pilots insisted their instruments showed they were still on course." It sounds like there is a system to pass information from the aircraft system to a separate ATC-B beacon, for some reason that system under some circumstances only passes the lat or long, not both. The ATC-B beacon then has another (what I would call) fault where if it receives partial information it fills in the blank with whatever it last received without noting the degraded information. I can understand the beacon wanting to keep transmitting some information, but much as a phone based GPS it should note that in some way. And this doesn't just happen for a few seconds or throw off the location a few hundred feet, one of the situations resulted in the aircraft showing its location 38 nautical miles from where it actually was.