Metro Aviation is launching its new IRIS system for datalink, flight data recording and L-band satellite broadband connectivity for tracking and monitoring aircraft and their EMS patients in real-time.
“Learning what is going on in the aircraft is the missing piece of Metro Aviation's push for safety,” Metro president and CEO Mike Stanberry told AIN at Heli-Expo 2015. “You give them the best equipment and the best training, but when pilots are out there on their own, in real-time, how do you know what they are doing, and what is happening with the aircraft and the engine? IRIS, with its unique ViaSat phased array, dual-element antenna, is all about completing that full circuit and giving us that real-time connection at speeds of up to one megabit per second,” he continued.
The technology uses systems similar to those employed by the U.S. military to track its aircraft and infantry vehicles. “Thirty thousand vehicles are monitored at once. Metro Aviation will be the first commercial operator on this system,” said Stanberry.
Metro acquired the knowledge and engineering to create IRIS through acquisition of North Flight Data Systems in 2008, then Outerlink Global Solutions in 2014. But it was the alliance with ViaSat, which miniaturized the antenna unit for the lighter, smaller aircraft used by commercial operators, that completed the technology. The phased array, dual-element antenna automatically and continuously seeks satellite position to allow for a constant connection, whereas most legacy technology employs burst transmissions. “The L-band is like the Alaskan pipeline in comparison to Iridium's cocktail straw,” said Stanberry.
Elaborating on the breadth of data transmitted, Jeff Warner, director of sales and marketing for Outerlink Global Solutions (Booth 4232), told AIN that “All of our one-second data recording is backed into 10-second-increment reports that are transmitted continuously to the helicopter's operation control center.” Along with the constant stream of data, the dual-element allows medical data from the back of the helicopter to be streamed simultaneously with aircraft data. Both the medevac crews in the back and pilots in front have VOIP (voice) and video transmission capability as well.
Metro Aviation announced on March 4 that beyond equipping its own helicopters with IRIS, Lafayette, Louisiana-based PHI and Texas-based Air Medical Group Holdings will be equipping their entire fleets, nearly 700 aircraft, with Metro’s IRIS technology.
“Now they can stop renting [communications] towers, saving them considerable dollars,” said Stanberry. With STC paperwork already filed, Stanberry expects STC approval on a series of airframes, beginning with the Sikorsky S-92 and Bell 206 L4 in September 2015. “We hope to get them all done by first quarter 2016,” he continued.
In other news North Flight Data received Transport Canada approval of its AS350/EC130 FAA STC for its lightweight flight data recorders. The first installations will be on Phoenix Heli-Flight helicopters in Ft. McMurray, Canada. This agreement includes upgrading the systems to IRIS as it becomes available.
Metro Aviation also announced the finalization of an operational control center course at its comprehensive CommLab training center in Shreveport, Louisiana. The CommLab is a joint effort of industry vendors including Flight Vector, Golden Hour, HSI, Xybix and Zoll.
