With the constant pressure to reduce incident rates, operators have no choice but to rigorously analyze their flight data, in order to identify any minor occurrence that could turn into a major issue. Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) - which is also known as Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA), Flight Operations Monitoring (FOM) or Flight Data Analysis (FDA) - involves all of the activities undertaken to improve flight safety and operational procedures, and is the only solution that provides airlines with the means to track operational trends and detect risk precursors requiring remedial action. An effective FDM program is an essential part of today's Safety Management System (SMS).

Teledyne Controls offers expert assistance to help organizations with their FDM initiatives. From FDM assessment to implementation and support, our comprehensive suite of solutions can be tailored to meet your specific requirements. Through a flexible and personalized approach, we integrate our various resources to build the unique solution that will best serve your needs. Utilizing our safety software, AirFASE®, Teledyne Controls has experience running comprehensive hosted FDM programs for vastly different operators with over 200 aircraft and others with less than five.

A Customized Solution to Meet Your Requirements
Implementing an effective FDM program can place significant demands on the resources available to airlines. Many airlines do not possess to the internal infrastructure or resources necessary to manage a program. The tasks involved in running an effective FDM program include:

Maintenance and IT support of the FDM system
Manual processing of recording media from the aircraft
Media tracking, quality assessment, erasing and re-formatting
Validation and verification of the replayed data
Data extraction for ECM/APM programs
ACMS report extraction
Production of statistical reports
Periodic and trend reporting to send to management for review
Continuous improvement of the FDM system and processes

With an FDM Service from Teledyne Controls, all these tasks can be outsourced, saving the airline significant time and money in setting up and running the system in-house.

Data Security
Since an FDM program involves the collecting, processing and analyzing of your airline's flight data, we ensure that the highest level of security is provided to guarantee the safety of your information. Data security is provided at several levels, including:

Servers hosted in a secure, restricted access room at Teledyne's London facility
Isolation of each customer's data
Password-protected secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) access
Optional de-identification of flights and events to protect flight crew
Secure distribution of data and reports

Regulations
A hosted flight data system by Teledyne's FDM Services is fully compliant with ICAO standards and all EASA and FAA regulations.

We recommend that you contact your National Aviation Authority for information that is specific to your territory.

Based on the mandated requirements by the ICAO, the UK CAA (United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority) has produced CAP (Civil Aviation Publication) 739, which is 'A Guide to Good Practice' for setting up and running an effective FDM program. The document can be found here

Essentially, the UK CAA defines Flight Data Monitoring as:

'… the systematic, pro-active and non-punitive use of digital flight data from routine operations to improve aviation safety.'