GE Digital has unveiled FlightPulse for Business Jets, a software analytics application that can provide pilots personalized data on how they operated previous flights and help in the planning and operation of future flights.
The company is showcasing the product at its exhibit at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).
Pilots at Gulfstream Aerospace, a development partner on the program, have been testing the program for the past six months. GE’s FlightPulse has been used by commercial airlines since 2017 to improve efficiency and safety. That app, available through a pilot’s Electronic Flight Bag, provides pilots with flight summary data from their individual flights to review. Using the data, pilots can determine how they operated the aircraft and whether they made any long landings, unstable approaches or had any overspeed situations, for example. They then can analyze their performance compared to peer statistics.
“Primarily, I wanted our pilots to get their own safety information directly,” says Chad Bland, Gulfstream Flight Operations chief of safety and senior production test pilot. “It’s like quarterbacks looking at their game tape on Monday morning. They analyze what they did, how they did. The tools that FlightPulse provide really gives the pilots a great way to look back.”
FlightPulse provides aggregate historical flight data from other pilots. For example, “it will show a pilot where exactly he touched down on the runway and let them compare themselves against a group of other pilots,” Bland says. “We’re all pretty competitive in nature. So, it’s a little bit for a pilot to say, ‘Hey, am I landing in the average touchdown zone, or am I landing long or short,’ and it tells them something they can work on.”
In addition, the program gives pilots operational information from unfamiliar airports. If it has been a while since a pilot has flown into Teterboro Airport in New Jersey or Van Nuys Airport in California, for example, the pilot can research the airport, Bland says. Based on actual recorded data, the program will provide information on common threats or safety events to help in flight preparations.
“The future of flight may evolve, but safety will always take priority,” says Andrew Coleman, GE Digital general manager of the company’s aviation software business. “This breakthrough solution puts data to work to produce insights that enable operator safety and efficiency. Instead of relying on disconnected data sources to prepare for and review flights, FlightPulse pilots have access to data in a digital transfer of information from safety teams.
FlightPulse is an extension of the Corporate Flight Operations Quality Assurance (C-FOQA) flight safety program. GE has administrated the program, which includes more than 350 corporate flight departments, since 2012.
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