Written by Katie Nielson
In April of 2008, American Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights (upwards of 500) in order to inspect (for the second time) wire bundles that had caused the carrier trouble previously. While American Airlines maintained the inspections stemmed from a technical compliance matter rather than a safety issue, many wiring problems can create potentially hazardous conditions on commercial airplanes. Take TWA Flight 800 for example; faulty wiring was implicated as the cause of the mid-air explosion of the aircraft that killed all 230 individuals on board.
The risk of damaged wires often increases as a commercial plane ages; the insulation surrounding the wires can begin to weaken, crack, and even fray. Unsafe and potentially fatal conditions can ensue as friction, moisture buildup, and maintenance wear cause the wires to deteriorate even further.
LiveWire Test Labs created a device that can identify intermittent problems with wiring in high-noise environments, primarily airplanes. Using Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry, the device can detect a short or fracture in the wiring and locate it within a foot of where it actually is.
Since the average airplane can have hundreds of meters of wiring, troubleshooting wiring problems is an extremely costly and time-consuming process for carriers. The technology developed by LiveWire increases the efficiency of the troubleshooting process while significantly lowering maintenance costs. Subsequently, commercial aircraft spend more time in the air and less time on the ground. And what safety-conscious frequent flier doesn’t like the sound of that?
