Spidertracks’ new FDR enables proactive safety information

Spidertracks released their Early Adopters program for ‘Insights’ in April 2021, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Operators have reported that they now have information about safety occurrences on the flight without complicated reports or costly installations.

Insights is made possible through Spidertracks’ latest innovative hardware, the Spider X. Based on the aircraft data collected by the Spider X, Virtual FDR Insights will feed both operational and safety insights into an operator’s flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) program. This device collects critical data such as roll, pitch, yaw, speed and altitude, and delivers this wirelessly to the Spidertracks platform. This data is then used to deliver actionable information in a simple and easy format. ‘Insights’ gives you the ability to not only see where your aircraft are flying, but, more importantly, know how they’re flying.

Setting specific parameters to measure in aircraft

With ‘Insights’, operators will have the ability to define and set specific parameters about their aircraft that they want to measure, such as excessive roll, a high rate of descent, maximum altitude, and/or a heading change, to name a few. Insights also comes with reporting tools so operators can analyse, measure, and interpret information such as the location of safety events, percentage of flights with safety events, trends of safety events by type of event, etc.

“We’ve got a key position in the market where we’re monitoring thousands and thousands of aircraft performing critical missions,” said Steve Whitaker, Spidertracks’ COO. “We looked at how we can build on what we’ve got to help provide our customers with a proactive safety system to enable a FOQA/FDM program. The same barriers exist today in flight data monitoring that existed in tracking when we started.

“The boxes are US$20,000 and it’s a 30-hour install. Even the higher end operators that we speak to can’t justify rolling that out across their fleet. Less than 10 per cent of the market is utilizing [FDM] right now. We have a cost-effective solution that provides an entry to a FOQA program with the basics they need to get an understanding into their safety.”

Setting own thresholds is invaluable

Spidertracks is leveraging more than 14 years of expertise to offer aircraft owners and operators an easy entry into FDM. Their latest evolution, Insights, breaks down the barriers of entry to FDM by delivering actionable information on safety events during a flight that indicate high-risk maneuvers, in a simple and digestible format.

“We are extremely impressed with the accuracy of the data and information from the aircraft. The ability to set our own thresholds is invaluable, as well as identifying pilot behaviour. We have been able to implement changes and see immediate improvements. The potential is endless,” said John Mandernach, Regional Partner of Maverick Helicopters.

Spidertracks is helping operators improve the safety of their operations in nearly every sector, from aerial firefighting and airborne law enforcement to wildlife rescue and flight school services. Their goal is making it simple for the operator, both from an installation perspective and getting immediate value from the data. Resulting in increased safety, and operational efficiencies.