"FAA testing cameras on planes"

chris6387

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\"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

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Don't know if you guys have already heard or discused this...

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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- The federal government is looking into putting video cameras on commercial flights so people on the ground could monitor pilots and passengers and get an early warning of hijackings or other trouble on board.

The Boeing Co. demonstrated a satellite system to Federal Aviation Administration officials in two test flights early this year, showing how images could be sent from a plane to the ground, said John Loynes, an FAA program manager in Washington. A Boeing 737, equipped with seven cameras, transmitted images of the pit and cabin.

Pilots have fiercely opposed efforts to put cameras in pits as an infringement of their authority. Passenger advocates have supported cameras as a way to prevent ist acts.

FAA officials stressed that the tests, conducted in January and February, were preliminary. There will be further tests and the agency is far from deciding whether or how to use the technology, said Marcia Adams, an agency spokeswoman.

About 20 federal and Boeing workers, most of them engineers, were on board the round-trip flights from Seattle, Washington. Federal air marshals also tested Boeing technology that allows the use of hand-held devices to transmit video and to speak with and send data from the air to workers on the ground, Loynes said.

One camera showed the pilots from behind, one was in first class and the others showed the rest of the passenger area. Workers on the ground, at Boeing offices in Seattle and in McLean, Virginia, could choose which camera view to look at by touching a computer screen, said Joseph J. Tedino, a Boeing spokesman.

Loynes described the tests as successful, with a few glitches in which video images were briefly garbled.

"There were no insurmountable problems," he said.

The tests were part of Boeing's 2002 contract with the FAA to test various security technologies.

Opposition from pilots
Boeing officials discussed the technology at a recent security conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The city of Denver, Colorado, uses a similar video system to monitor part of its public transit system.

For more than a decade, the FAA has considered various plans to put video cameras in airplanes. In 2000, National Transportation Safety Board officials pushed a plan for pit cameras, saying they aid air crash investigators.

The proposal was dropped after stiff opposition from pilots, who were concerned that cameras could lead to a dilution of pilots' control over decisions made during flights. Pilots said workers on the ground could misinterpret video images and give orders based on incomplete information.

But advocates for air passengers say cameras would make air travel safer by preventing ism and hijackings.

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said cameras would allow officials to assess the seriousness of a disturbance in the cabin. Officials on the ground could then talk about the problem with the flight crew members, who could learn about the situation without having to leave the pit.

"In the old days, one of the flight crew could come out and check things out, but they can't do that anymore," Stempler said. "These days, we want to keep the pit impenetrable to ists or hijackers."



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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Well, they're going to have to require someone to monitor and interpret thousands of video feeds, 24/7.

But if one goes in the cockpit, I can virtually guarantee that it'd become a hat hangar because no one, including myself, wants a camera sitting there watching me eat a lukewarm Dickie's BBQ sandwich that I purchased four legs previous.

Making the cockpit door is ultra secure, check all cargo, screen the passengers and a good dose of common sense will keep the airlines safe.

And although the TSA and federal governement are trying to politically kill off the FFDO program (let's admit it folks), I've got a crash axe and will unleash hell on an unauthorized entry, hijacker or not.
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Take the crash axe to the camera.
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That would suck having someone watching you all the time. Or at least thinking someones watching you. I'd definetly cover that lens with a massive hunk of gum.

I might be able to see where it would help in a crash investigation. (or just be traumatizing as hell) But other than that, no.

Tom
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Maybe the cabin, but definitely not the cockpit. Who wants some eight buck an hour rent a cop to be looking at video of you doing your job when they have not one clue about how to do it?
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Id be more worried about management or someone else trying to influence your dicisions in an emergency.

I dont know of many proffesions where the boss just pops up and watches you for five hours.

As for cameras in the cabin, woudnt be as bad as in the cockpit, but some passengers probly wouldnt like it.

Tom
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Personally I like the 'spy-plane' that was being tested by one major airline in the US. It was a closed-circuit system that had two or three cameras in the cabin, and they were monitored by the pilots, and ONLY the pilots, no recordings were made, no signals broadcast. The flight attendants had hissy fits about it, and as a 7 year veteran flight attendant I can not understand why. Who better to watch the FWD galley/entry areas and cabin aisle than the pilots of that aircraft! That way if a scuffle was heard in the back, the pilots can see everything and determine a course of action without ever having to open the cockpit door. I think the flight attendants of that airline were paranoid about being written up to management or something.
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

FlyChicaga and Doug,

You guys packing your Desert Eagle's yet?
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Nope!

I really wouldn't want to carry one because of the difficulties it would bring as a commuter, but I'd lovingly load magazines with fresh rounds for my captain!

"Fresh magazine, skipper?"
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Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Nah. I'm not big on the whole guns in the cockpit thing. Although, my Dad who has been a Federal LEO for 30 years has been encouraging me to go forward with getting into the FFDO program. His view is, "It's better to have someone who knows something about law enforcement and is against guns carrying than someone who has no clue about law enforcement and is a gun lover up there." I can see his point. Too much of a hassle though.
 
\"FAA testing cameros on planes\"

Every time I read this For some reason I see

"FAA testing Cameros on planes"

How do they make those cars fit?
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameros on planes\"

Haha

I didnt even notice that Eagle. Mabey a United 747-400 could accomodate this.
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Cameras that the pilots could monitor would be good too.

Tom
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameros on planes\"

The only way that I see this getting any support is if they extend pilots with cockpit cameras the same protections that they get with a cockpit voice recorder.
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameros on planes\"

Nope. Not until we have cameras in every board room, operating room and judges chambers!
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Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

[ QUOTE ]
Id be more worried about management or someone else trying to influence your dicisions in an emergency.

I dont know of many proffesions where the boss just pops up and watches you for five hours.

As for cameras in the cabin, woudnt be as bad as in the cockpit, but some passengers probly wouldnt like it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I think that an emergency situation is the one situation where the crew would totally ignore the camera. After all, if you're busy keeping the plane from crashing, you won't be thinking about the camera and management second guessing you. Staying alive would be the only thing you're thinking about. I'm guessing, of course, but still, you'd think I'd be right.

Never mind all that, though. Doug is right. Why should management be able to watch you do things like eat your food or drink your coffee or something like that?
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameros on planes\"

^^^Does that mean that you'd need to have a mullet to become a pilot?
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Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

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Guess that means that the pilots for Southwest will have to keep their clothes on huh.

Naunga
 
Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

[ QUOTE ]
smirk.gif
Guess that means that the pilots for Southwest will have to keep their clothes on huh.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or they could moon the camera to tell management exactly how they feel about those cameras.

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Re: \"FAA testing cameras on planes\"

Cameras in the cockpit was already something that was proposed several years ago for the purpose of accident investigation, but pretty much everyone struck it down on the premise that the information to be gleaned from such footage would be insignificant and the trauma of actually seeing the event unfold would be overwhelmingly bad.

If anything, they need to install cameras that monitor the cockpit door and aisle area in front of it, and display that to the cockpit crew. The cost would be about a tenth of the "remote monitoring" system and it would be actually used by most flight crews, I would imagine. Anything would be easier then having to shimmy out of the seat and peer through the spy hole in the door.

Paul
 
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