The aim of the project is to design, produce and validate a demonstrator of a Steerable Aircraft Parachute System (SARS) for recue of small and medium size airplanes or other flying devices
, such as Light Sport Aircrafts (LSA), weighting up to 600 kg or space capsules, and navigated within the frame of the Global Navigation Satellite System GNSS (e.g. GPS/EGNOS/Galileo). Ranging from ULM (ultra-light models, 400kg approx.), to larger general aviation aircraft the SARS will be the next-generation safety system. As an example of a concrete model where the proposed system could be installed, we can mention the CTLS model (in the range from 475, ULM, to 625 kg, LSA) by Flight Design.
AOPA?s (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) report ?General Aviation Accident?s 10-years trend? describes the typology and the evolution of the trend regarding the cause of accidents in the General Aviation (Table 1.1). Around 75% of the total number of accidents reported were related to engine failures, fuel management, weather conditions or maneuvering flights. Regarding fatal accidents, those with human casualties, the causes mentioned above account for around 75% of the accidents. In all these cases, the Steerable Aircraft Parachute System could provide a safe response to those emergency situations.
The Steerable Aircraft Parachute System could save lives in the 75% of the accidents.
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2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
Number of Accidents
|
1486
|
1465
|
1498
|
1399
|
1423
|
1303
|
1385
|
1254
|
Number of Aircraft
|
1503
|
1475
|
1513
|
1414
|
1438
|
1311
|
1397
|
1272
|
Flight Hours (millions)
|
23.6
|
23.3
|
23.7
|
22.9
|
21.0
|
21.5
|
21.4
|
19.8
|
Accident Rate (per 100.000h)
|
6.30
|
6.29
|
6.32
|
6.11
|
6.78
|
6.06
|
6.47
|
6.76
|
Number of Fatal Accidents
|
299
|
307
|
306
|
286
|
290
|
267
|
252
|
236
|
Fatal Accident Rate
|
1.27
|
1.32
|
1.29
|
1.25
|
1.38
|
1.24
|
1.18
|
1.19
|
Fatalities
|
573
|
527
|
576
|
528
|
506
|
497
|
449
|
433
|
Table 1. General aviation accidents from 2001 to 2008 (*)
(*) source: NALL report by AOPA, 2008 & 2009
The objective of the project is to develop a safety system which combines a steerable parachute and a control and guidance unit. The safety system will be embedded in the aircraft and will be activated by the pilot only in case of emergency. Once activated, the system will be fully automatic; the parachute will be deployed and, thanks to a GPS-based system, the AGU (Automatic Guidance Unit) will define the track to an automatically identified safe landing area.
The main purpose of the rescue parachute is to slow down the aircraft to a reasonable descent speed leading to a safe and survivable touchdown and landing. The AGU and control units developed will be devoted to the identification and steering of the parachute to the landing area.