The objective of this semester thesis is the development of an algorithm in order to analyze the accident scenario Controlled Flight Into Terrain. In practical applications these analyses are based on the TAWS warnings (Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems), whereas in this thesis an alternative approach to the common investigations shall be developed. Four Terrain Elevation Databases have been compared to establish the basis of the analysis: ASTER GDEM, GTOPO30, GMTED2010 and SRTM. With the highest accuracy, the least void areas and a comparatively high surface coverage of the earth, ASTER GDEM was found to be the best and most suitable for the current analysis. By means of this terrain model the implemented MATLAB algorithm calculates for every sample of the recorded flight path, where the airplane would collide with terrain or any obstacle in case the original flight path was not corrected. That’s how a tangential straight line to the aircraft’s path is obtained, which we call the CFIT - Trajectory. On the latter one, it is continuously examined, where all evasion possibili- ties for avoiding a crash are blocked, which marks the Point of no Return. The distance from the original plane position to the calculated Point of no Return determines the risk assessment for the analyzed point, whereby later those single evaluations of the samples are summed up to a single value for the whole flight, which we call the CFIT - Number. In first applications on approaches to different airports we were able to show, that the algorithm is capable of detecting significant deviations from a perfect approach (perfect in accordance to the Instrument Landing System), with which the quality of landing maneuvers can be categorized. After solving and implementing the challenges mentioned in the outlook section it shall be possible to implement the developed algorithm on different airports and runways and to compare them in terms of CFIT - risk using the functionalities developed and presented in this thesis.


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    Title :

    Controlled Flight Into Terrain Analyses In Flight Data Monitoring


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    2017-11-27


    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



    Classification :

    DDC:    620 / 629



    Avoiding Controlled Flight into Terrain

    Carbaugh, D. / Flight Safety Foundation / International Federation of Airwothiness et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1997