February 2011Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
The engine on a passenger jet exploding and disintegrating during flight is certainly not an everyday occurrence that pilots are trained to cope with on the flight deck. But it did happen on a Qantas Airbus A380 last year, blasting one of the wings full of shrapnel holes in the process. The two hour cockpit drama that ensued is a testament to human ingenuity and a reminder that things can go desperately wrong on even the most sophisticated of redundant system designs.
Engine pieces sliced through electric cables and hydraulic lines puncturing the wing’s two fuel tanks and structurally damaging the main spar. As fuel leaked out, an imbalance was created between the left and right hand sides of the plane. This was compounded as the craft became tail heavy due to the loss of electrical power that made fuel dumping from the rear tanks impossible. Experts believe this probably posed the biggest risk. If the aircraft got too far out of balance it would lose lift, stall and crash. Alarm bells rang.
According to reports the crew was faced with 54 computer messages alerting them to system failures and warning of impending disaster. All of these would have to be prioritised and managed if the plane along with its 450 passengers were to be saved. For some of the problems there were not even operating procedures, it was never envisaged that so many things could go wrong at once. Fortunately, fate determined that there were five pilots on board that day with over 100 years of flying experience between them. One concentrated on handling the controls and keeping the aircraft stable, the others worked flat out to manage the alarms and implement the appropriate reactionary responses. It took almost two hours until the situation was eventually brought under control, the extent of the damage determined and the flight status of the plane restored.
It was human skill and creativity that rescued the Airbus that day, its computers and back-up systems simply did not have the power to cope with so many malfunctions simultaneously. They were not programmed with 100 years of flying experience. What a reminder that the days of the human operator may not all be under threat from future generations of intelligent robots – at least not until they can be programmed to learn by experience.
Speaking of robots, we have some interesting articles on the subject in this issue. Jim Pinto predicts that a future confluence of technology will evolve development to levels where human beings interact socially with their very own personal robots. Closer to home SAI&C deputy editor, Kim Roberts, attended a robotic symposium at the CSIR and reports that there is some cutting-edge research on the go. One of the projects aims to develop an autonomous system capable of navigating underground through the stopes on a mine. The idea is to reduce the number of injuries due to rock falls by using a robot to evaluate the condition of the hanging walls prior to any miners being deployed in an area. (See 'Mining robots can save lives')
In closure a quick note of thanks to Kim and managing editor Graeme Bell for kindly standing in recently while I took my annual holiday. The production team has done their usual fantastic job this month – I hope you enjoy the read.
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