BritFlight

The Chilling Result of Cold Temperatures on Barometric Altimeters   (pdf)(11kb)(FSF)   Barometric altimeters on modern aircraft with digital Air Data Computers are very accurate most of the time and we rely on these altimeters in every aspect of today’s air travel. We diligently set the local altimeter settings prior to each takeoff and each approach but we do not routinely make any corrections for non-standard temperatures. Somewhere in my engineering background, I certainly knew that temperature affects air density but my aviation training has not included a procedure for making temperature corrections.

Temperature Compensation To Baro Altimeter   (pdf)(16kb)   Pressure altimeters are calibrated to indicate true altitude under International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) conditions. Any deviation from ISA will therefore result in an erroneous reading on the altimeter.

Cold Weather Altimeter Correction Chart    (pdf)(6kb)   Pressure altimeters are calibrated to indicate true altitude under International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) conditions. Any deviation from ISA will therefore result in an erroneous reading on the altimeter.

Altimeter Setting - Use of Radio Altimeter   (pdf)(244kb)(AIRBUS)   This Flight Operations Briefing Note provides a review and discussion of the following aspects, highlighting the lessons learned from incidents / accidents (particularly during approach-and-landing)

Airbus Safety Library http://www.airbus.com/en/corporate/ethics/safety_lib/

Operational use of Angle of Attack (pdf)(270kb)(BOEING)   AOA can be used for many indications on the flight deck to improve flight crew awareness of airplane state relative to performance limits. Dedicated AOA indicators have been used on military aircraft for many years, but this form of display has not been used often on commercial airplanes.

Erroneous Flight Instruments (pdf)(215kb)(BOEING)   Controlling a newer generation airplane is a relatively routine task for pilots who are current and qualified. Technology has solved many of the problems from the early days of aviation, such as gyro precession, high instrument failure rates, and delayed response to control input. Simple "needle, ball, and airspeed" flight information has been replaced by aural, visual, and tactile warnings incorporated into modern flight decks to alert flight crews when certain airplane parameters are exceeded. However, to prevent airplane accidents or incidents, flight crews need to know how to react properly when they encounter contradictory flight deck information or lose a significant amount of this information because of instrument failure.