Story ID: 463AirbusBigData
Airbus Embraces Big Data
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Airbus Helicopters pairs with Skytrac, launches Flight Analyser app
Word Count: 306
Airbus Helicopters (Booth C305) is embracing big data. On Tuesday, the company announced a pair of deals to speed the flow of real-time data from its helicopter to the ground and then have that data expeditiously analyzed post-flight. 

Airbus signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Skytrac that will enable Airbus helicopters equipped with Skytrac equipment to transmit flight data directly to Airbus' ground servers for analysis. The data will be pooled with data collected from other sources to assist Airbus in refining its analytics and thus optimizing costs and reliability.

According to Airbus, about 600 helicopters are currently sharing flight and maintenance data with the helicopter manufacturer across virtually all models. “By opening new pathways and collectively pooling the rich data available, we help operators gain greater visibility into their day-to-day operations and access new tools and analytics for pilot and crew,” said Stephanie Bonnefoy-Fourie, Airbus Helicopters head of connected services. 

Concurrent with its LOI with Skytrac, Airbus officially launched its Flight Analyser application that evaluates data from a variety of onboard sources such as ISEI Helicom, the Appareo 1000 flight data recorder, and the Outerlink Iris data recorder. Data includes altitude, ground speed, vertical speed, and engine parameters. It is then augmented with weather data and sky conditions. The app also performs a confidence check for each event assessing the reliability of the data.

Flight Analyser users are given access to dashboards that are updated post-flight. The output can be used in a safety management system to support decision-making. “We’re helping our customers uncover issues that would have been near impossible to see in the raw data,” said Gilles Bruniaux, Airbus Helicopters’ head of aviation safety. “Being able to make sense of this rich data and learn from it represents another step forward for safety.”