Advances in Cloud-Based FDR Tech Aim to Make Business Aviation Safer

Developments in cloud-based flight data recorder (FDR) technologies, data management and analytics offer opportunities for business aircraft operators to add value to their existing systems while bolstering overall flight safety.

“There is a missed opportunity with integrated data collection and analysis,” said Dror Yahav, CEO of Universal Avionics. “While many OEMs, install it to check a requirement, flight data recorders are a powerful tool that links to everything that your aircraft is connected to.”

Although their FDRs and cockpit voice recorders collect massive amounts of data, many operators often fail to do anything with it. Capturing the right data can be the first step toward improving pilot performance. It can help provide effective analysis to determine what factors may have contributed to an incident or accident. It has the potential to help prevent future accidents and enable more efficient operations.

Within the past two decades, innovations in this technology for the business aviation sector have been significant. ForeFlight Mobile, for example, is designed to efficiently and effectively help pilots and professional flight crews gather information on weather and on their destinations.

Cloud solutions, such as ForeFlight’s CloudAhoy, aim to improve post-flight debriefings to advance flight training. ForeFlight Cloud integrates with FDR systems, stores data and enables data sharing as well as data analysis. This allows FDRs to go beyond tracking and recording features. The focus is flight safety, data security – including of cloud-stored pilot flight logs, regulatory compliance and enhanced operational efficiency.

“One current development is the ongoing integration of flight data management and analysis into cloud platforms, bringing airline-style flight data monitoring and Flight Operations Quality Assurance programs to business aviation,” said Hannes Griebel, director consulting services, aerospace and assured space systems at CGI.

CGI has developed its VirtualFlightRecorder, a cloud-based flight recorder data storage and protection system. “It complements the functions traditionally performed by the conventional crash-resistant FDRs by storing flight recorder data transmitted by an aircraft in flight,” Griebel said.

Griebel acknowledged that modern avionics or retrofit units, which are often quick-access recorders or data gateways, can upload recorded flight data to cloud services after each flight, where it is processed for trends and safety insights. The initiative adds a layer of data security by using blockchain technology to authenticate, log and secure incoming flight data records to ensure confidence in the data collated for analysis.

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CVR + FDR = CVFDR

FDRs and CVRs are usually two separate boxes. Universal Avionics decided to change this. The company has developed a new generation of these systems called KAPTURE. Installed in business jets and other aircraft, the new systems were designed to comply with European regulations and the latest FAA Technical Standard Orders.

“We wanted to ensure that customers are compliant with the latest mandate, which required new airplanes to equip a 25-hour CVR by May 16, 2025, and all airplanes will need to retrofit to this regulation by 2030,” Griebel said. The legislation was part of the 2024 FAA reauthorization.

“After the base regulation requirements were met, we still wanted to provide customers with more value for their daily workflows,” said Yahav. There is much stored value available in FDRs, which most users do not use to improve their operations. Universal Avionics aims to support customers with their data analysis as well as with their compliance obligations.

This involves the development of products and services, including the integration of FDR and CVR functions into one black box to create a single CVFDR unit. It records voice audio, flight data or both. For security reasons, in the business aviation sector, the data is encrypted. This has to be decrypted when there is an accident.

“Users of our flight management system have constant access to their data, enabling them to optimize their operations and to undertake proactive and predictive maintenance,” said Yahav. AI tools can be used when there are large amounts of data to analyze, for predictive maintenance, or to improve fuel efficiency. “You do not want to waste time performing maintenance too early or risk unscheduled downtime when it’s too late,” Yahav said.

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Adding Video Data to FDRs

Technology also enables the integration of video into flight data recorders, connecting a cockpit camera to make a visual record of pilot activities or intruders entering the flight deck. “The evolution of data recorders is mostly around video recording and providing additional information whenever there is an incident,” said Yahav.

“Virtual recorder (VR) technologies have the potential to revolutionize CVR and FDR analysis by providing immersive and interactive experiences for investigators,” said Borka Vlacic, director of product management, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. With this kind of technology, it is possible to recreate a cockpit environment and overlay any relevant data.

Connectivity Is Key

These innovations can often work with any kind of connectivity, but not always. “Only satellite communications provide practical connectivity solutions for operations over water or remote areas, where the safety benefits are greatest,” said Griebel.

Satellite is the only practical method to reach cloud-based storage solutions to back up data for an aircraft that operates in remote areas. “In practice, this means flight data is no longer confined to a physical device on board – it is also sent to remote storage in real time or near-real-time,” Griebel said. With modern satellite communications systems, connected recorders can transmit continuously, at intervals, or be triggered by an emergency, depending on operator preference.