Black Box in the Sky Captures Data on the Fly

Honeywell Aerospace is trying to overcome the limitations of legacy hardware-focused flight data recorders with the development of a system it calls “Black Box in the Sky” (BBITS), a digitally connected solution that can stream flight data in near real-time. The intention is to deliver more than just the mandatory data that aircraft operators are currently required to store.

This work was prompted in part by the upcoming international Timely Recovery of Flight Data mandate, which is expected to take effect by the end of the decade. The project is being driven by Honeywell’s facility in Brno, Czech Republic, which holds design authority for all of the company’s in-production recorders.

The Brno research-and-development hub is a hive of innovation activity. Other technologies that Honeywell's Brno team is advancing include improved methods to address pilot fatigue and GPS signal jamming, as well as drone operations management and hydrogen propulsion.

According to Honeywell, BBITS simplifies flight data collection by uploading and streaming it via a cloud-based portal rather than from the aircraft itself. During a recent briefing in Brno, Tomas Kral, senior engineering manager of the recorders team, said that initial customer reaction to the new approach has been positive.

Kral said the BBITS system can monitor predefined events, such as turbulence or hard landings, stream data during a distress event, or provide additional information to maintenance personnel. Honeywell’s 25-hour Connected Recorder (HCR-25) serves as the hub of the system, which, according to the company, is the first connected recorder to stream data out of the box to the ground infrastructure.

Simplifying Data Downloads

The enhanced BBITS system aims to significantly simplify how to handle data from the recorder, according to Honeywell. A single software program will integrate multiple modules to enable customers to gain maximum insight from the wealth of available information.

The U.S.-based aerospace group has already developed a prototype system that can be deployed in prospective airline customers’ data centers. Near real-time analysis can also be conducted mid-flight, with data streamed via satellite communications.

Prospective customers, including Boeing and Airbus, are actively discussing BBITS with Honeywell. As well as ongoing analysis aboard Honeywell’s Boeing 757 test aircraft, the Brno team is also participating in Eurocae working group 118 to help define the form and function of the group’s concept for a lightweight flight recording system.

New Approach to Tackling GPS Jamming

Honeywell recently launched its new Alternative Navigation Architecture (HANA) software solution, designed to ensure resilient navigation in environments where satellite signals may be spoofed, jammed, or inaccessible. Although the group has been developing methods to support non-GPS navigation for about a decade, the latest technology is its response to a growing threat to aviation safety and security.

“What we’re seeing in terms of the kind of conflict and the war going on in Eastern Europe is the need for alternate navigation,” explained Mike Vallillo, Honeywell Aerospace’s international vice president of defense and space.

HANA is designed to provide precise information on the aircraft’s position, velocity, and orientation when Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are unavailable. According to Matt Picchetti, vice president of navigation and sensors, HANA is applicable to crewed and uncrewed aircraft as well as to military surface vehicles. It can run on the operator’s current computing platform or on a Honeywell-provided platform.

The initial iteration of the system includes vision-aided navigation, using live camera feeds to match ground imagery with map databases. Honeywell also aims to integrate magnetic anomaly and low-Earth-orbit satellite solutions into the layered-architecture system next year.

Michal Zavisek, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Technology Solutions EMEA, told reporters that the company currently offers six or seven means of operating in a GPS-denied environment, combining variations of vision, magnetic, and radar-based solutions to provide full coverage—something no single standalone method can offer. “Our key advantage is that we are able to merge those solutions to give [the customer] something that works all the time,” he explained. “Navigation with GPS isn’t enough for this.”

Coping With Pilot Fatigue

Honeywell is addressing concerns about flight deck fatigue with its pilot-state monitoring solution for commercial airliners. The project forms part of the EU-backed SESAR-3 project called “Digital Assistants for Reducing Workload and Increasing Collaboration” (Darwin).

The system combines real-time camera feeds with software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and process pilot facial cues and potential abnormalities. While the sleep and drowsiness element has already reached technology readiness level (TRL) 6, the ability to detect pilot incapacitation is expected to achieve the same maturity next year, according to Honeywell.

Bohdan Blaha, senior software engineering supervisor for Project Darwin, explained that detecting drowsiness or incapacitation in the flight deck is significantly more difficult than detecting it in car drivers. This, he explained, is because pilots typically shift their focus from instrument panels to other tasks and have greater freedom to move around or even step away from the aircraft’s controls.

Honeywell’s technology uses a monochromatic camera to track real-time facial features, such as eye position, and processes parameters including blinking, the duration of eye closure, yawning, and overall head posture every 30 seconds. An AI algorithm can detect whether the pilot is drowsy, fully asleep, or otherwise incapacitated.

Pilots can then be prompted to be more alert with aural warning alarms. In the interest of confidentiality, Honeywell’s real-time system does not share or record incident data. Although Honeywell has experimented with smartwatches and other so-called wearable technologies, Blaha explained that sharing data from these devices can pose privacy concerns. This approach can also be undermined if pilots forget to wear the device or if batteries run out of charge.

As part of ongoing evaluations, Honeywell has combined real-world data from its test aircraft with simulator-based trials. This included inviting a multitude of tired Brno employees to validate the system’s alert functionality during various phases of drowsiness.

Following successful testing on Honeywell’s Beech Bonanza, Falcon F900, and Boeing 757 test aircraft, the project’s scope was expanded in 2025 to include an Embraer 170. An unidentified airline has also been testing the pilot monitoring system for 18 months on board its Airbus A321, with the potential for it to enter service after Darwin is completed in 2026.