An electronic centralised aircraft monitoring (ECAM) or electronic centralized aircraft monitoring is a system that monitors aircraft functions and relays them to the pilots. It also produces messages detailing failures and in certain cases, lists procedures to undertake to correct the problem.

History

ECAM is similar to another system, known as

Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System An engine-indicating and crew-alerting system (EICAS) is an integrated system used in modern aircraft to provide aircraft flight crew with instrumentation and crew annunciations for aircraft engines and other systems. On EICAS equipped aircraft th ...

(EICAS), used by

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and

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where ...

, which displays data concerning aircraft systems and also failures. Airbus developed ECAM, such that it not only provided the features of EICAS, but also displayed corrective action to be taken by the pilot, as well as system limitations after the failures. Using a colour-coded scheme the pilots can instantly assess the situation and decide on the actions to be taken. It was designed to ease pilot stress in abnormal and emergency situations, by designing a paperless

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that e ...

in which all the procedures are instantly available.

System design

ECAM is a series of systems designed to work in unison to display information to the pilots in a quick and effective manner.

Sensor A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

s placed throughout the aircraft, monitoring key parameters, feed their data into two System Data Acquisition Concentrator (SDACs) which in turn process the data and feed it to two Flight Warning Computers (FWCs). The FWCs check for discrepancies in the data and then display the data on the ECAM displays through the three Display Management Computers (DMCs). In the event of a fault the FWCs generate the appropriate warning messages and sounds. More vital systems are routed directly through the FWCs such that failures in them can still be detected even with the loss of both SDACs. The whole system can continue to operate even with a failure of one SDAC and one FWC. Failures are classed by importance ranging from level 1 failures to level 3 failures. In the event of simultaneous failures the most critical failure is displayed first. The warning hierarchy is as follows: * Level 3 Failures: red warnings, situations that require immediate crew action and that place the flight in danger. For example, an engine fire or loss of cabin pressure. They are enunciated with a red master warning light, a warning (red) ECAM message and a continuous repetitive chime or a specific sound or a synthetic voice. The chime can be silenced by pressing the master warning push button. * Level 2 Failures: amber cautions, failures that require crew attention but not immediate action. For example, air bleed failure or fuel fault. They have no direct consequence to flight safety and are shown to the crew through an amber master caution light, a caution (amber) ECAM message and a single chime. * Level 1 Failures: Cautions, failures and faults that lead to a loss of system redundancy, they require monitoring but present no hazard. Examples include the loss of DMC3 when not in use. Level 1 failures are enunciated by a caution (amber) ECAM message only (no aural warning). In addition to the three failure levels are following status messages: * Advisory: System parameters' monitoring. It causes an automatic call of the relevant system page on the system display (S/D). The affected parameter pulses green. * MEMO: Information: Recalls normal or automatic selection of functions which are temporarily used. It causes a green, amber, or magenta message on engine warning display (E/WD).

References

{{Flight instruments Aircraft instruments Avionics Navigational equipment Technology systems Glass cockpit

History

System design

See also

References