Cold comfort for sky safety

Press, 27 July 1988, Page 17

Cold comfort for sky safety

British Airways engineers are testing a revolutionary infrared camera that can detect ice and water in aircraft wings, writes Robin McKie in the “Observer” newspaper. The device exploits heat differences produced by ice which forms when planes are at altitude and could help slash costs of airline safety checks. At present engineers have to take aircraft out of service and X-ray their wings, flaps and airlerons for signs of water logging — a highly costly process.

Water gets into wing structures because they are made of a honeycomb of lightweight

non-metallic material. Large amounts of water in wings — which turns to ice at high altitude — can affect an aircraft’s balance during flight. Now British Airways is preparing to use a new infra-red camera developed by the company Inframetrics. The camera detects heat emitted by objects. Its electronic signal is then analysed by computer before a digital image is produced on a TV screen. Ice that has formed inside an aircraft wing honeycombs then shows up as cold, black spots on the screen’s TV image. The process is simple and can be carried out just after a plane has landed.