Sensors and systems to ensure flight safety

The weather radar is usually built into the nose of the aircraft within a protective enclosure known as a radome. Its purpose is to monitor the local weather and give pilots early warning of any dangerous weather events.

In Airbus aircraft, this electronic system displays the most critical engine parameters and monitors all of the aircraft systems—fuel and hydraulics, for instance. It also reports any errors and suggests solutions for resolving them. Boeing operates a similar system known as EICAS (Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System).

Pilots and air traffic controllers communicate via radio transmissions at set frequencies according to strict guidelines and prescribed formulations. This high level of standardization is for safety reasons, as it helps avoid miscommunication.

The attitude indicator, also known as the artificial horizon, shows pilots the orientation of their aircraft relative to the Earth’s surface. Meanwhile, the bank and turn indicator shows the angle of the aircraft with respect to horizontal axis and the rate of turn.

Aircraft use GPS receivers to determine their position. The data comes from GPS satellites that send out regular signals specifying their position at a given moment in time.

The ground-based instrument landing system helps pilots as they ­approach to land. An ILS receiver on board the aircraft processes two guidance radio signals to determine the course (direction) and glide path (altitude) for landing. This­ ­enables pilots to land with precision even when visibility is poor.

A Pitot tube is an instrument used to calculate an aircraft’s airspeed. It works by collecting air so as to determine stagnation pressure. When you subtract the static pressure from the stagnation pressure, you are left with the dynamic pressure. And once you know the dynamic pressure, you can use the atmospheric density to calculate airspeed and thereby the speed of the aircraft.

A radar ­altimeter measures the aircraft’s exact ­altitude above the ground using short ­electromagnetic waves.

The TCAS is an on-board early warning system that helps avoid air collisions. If two aircraft are on a collision course, it will show both pilots how to adjust their course so as to avert an impending collision.