Renewed Call For Cockpit Cameras

[SoCalDem]

Renewed Call For Cockpit Cameras
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/27/national/main632123.shtml
CBS News - 3 hours ago
Renewed Call For Cockpit Cameras
WASHINGTON, July 27, 2004

(AP) Safety officials are stepping up pressure on the Federal Aviation Administration to require video cameras in cockpits so accident investigators will have better information on what causes plane crashes. The National Transportation Safety Board launched a two-day hearing Tuesday to renew its call for large and small planes to be equipped with crash-resistant cockpit image recorders.

"We need to light the fires," said National Transportation Safety Board member Carol Carmody, who will chair the hearing. The NTSB recommended that the FAA require large aircraft to be equipped with cameras four years ago.

Supporting the idea was Ken Smart of the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch, who said cameras are used on military aircraft in the United Kingdom and are very useful in understanding the human actions that lead to airplane accidents.

Nonetheless, the idea of cameras in the cockpits drew strong opposition from airline pilots


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other articles @
Pilots fight proposal for cockpit cameras - Albany Democrat Herald
http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2004/07/27/news/nation/nat02.txt
Safety board renews call for cameras in the cockpit - Kansas City Star (subscription)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/9251574.htm
Hearing today on cameras in the cockpit - WAFF
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=2092894
all 94 related »
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=UTF-8&newsclusterurl=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/27/national/main632123.shtml
Allied Pilots Association States Position on Cockpit Video ...
Business Wire (press release), CA - 3 hours ago
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040727005768&newsLang=en
... investigation," he said. "Simply put, our nation's airline industry faces more pressing priorities than installing cockpit video cameras.". ...

[JayS]

1. I am in favor of this providing that the recordings will be kept...

...under lock and key and never shown to anyone outside of the immediate, and I do mean immediate, investigation. I do not want the pilots last moments to be out there for all to see.

It would help as the pilots will surely not be wanting to chat with each other or aircraft control while dealing with a severe emergency. I would not mind if computer generated mockups were available to some psychologists to see if a change in the placement of aircraft controls may be in order.

[Trillo]

2. Oh, yeah, more government secrets--that's the ticket! (sarcasm) nt

[JayS]

4. I did not mean for my reply to be about creating more...

...government secrets. I understand the concerns of the pilots and agree with them. Only someone with a pressing need to view the video should be allowed to. Watching someone's most private moment, their death, is not something that should be shared casually.

[SoCalDem]

8. I think it should be erased automatically when the plane stops

after landing..That way everything "stays with the crew"...BUT in the case of an emergency, when they transmit ANY emergency signal, the tape would not be able to be erased,and would be uploaded/downloaded for use in the event of a crash..

[Massacure]

3. Isn't this what black boxes are for?

Why do we need camera's now?

[JayS]

5. The black boxes do not show the state of the cockpit or what...

...the attention of the pilots is primarily on. It would have been much easier to solve the Egypt Air mystery if the suicidal pilot could have been seen.

[Hobarticus]

6. What exactly do they think they will see?

Pilots struggling to save their aircraft and passengers....what else?

Maybe gremlins scooting across the instrument panel?

Anything to draw attention away from real-deal improvements to airline safety.

[Snoggera]

7. Why do I think

the current administration is behind the scenes fighting this every step of the way?

[w4rma]

9. Bah. Too many cameras everywhere already, imho. (nt)

[lovedems]

10. I heard that on the "news" this morning and it has to be the most stupid

thing I have ever heard!

What video would survive a plane crash? Why else would you want to record what goes on in the cockpit (aside from the black box)? This is a colossal waste of time and money. Everything they need to know they can get from the black box.

How much time and money can the government waste?

[JayS]

11. I assume that the video feed from the cockpit would go into...

...the same type of "black box" arrangement that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders use and thus is likely to survive a crash. If nothing else, the video would make it easy to marry up what information the flight data and voice recorders are providing. If the privacy issues are addressed, I think the cost would be worth it. I also think that the flight attendants should have the means to activate an emergency beacon from multiple locations in the aircraft.