Inflight cameras

[NZflygirl]

I really don't know what you'd find all that interesting. I most certainly do not want you knowing any time I visit the toilet, have a meal, fall asleep, or have to do an ECAM. The security implications alone would kill it.

The cameras were not installed for passengers anyway. They exist to help with taxiing...feeding to the cabin is just a bonus.

Out of curiosity what additional info do you get from the cameras that you don't get from the coughpit view??

Flying EY A380 now LHR-AUH and I could see some nice approaches while waiting for take-off but ... is it a better side view or wider angle from the tail cam vs well I guess maybe a more front on view from the coughpit??

I'm a cam fan.

 

[andmiz]

Does any other aircraft apart from the A380 come fitted with external cameras (for pax use)?

Our 777's and 350's both offer cameras for pax viewing.

The coughpit camera sounds like the PERFECT place to hang my hat..... It would be the biggest privacy issue since the coughpit Voice Recorder.

Really, if you want to know what happens in the coughpit, buy one of those flight DVD's out there for enthusiasts, or ask to visit us after the flight.

 

[Skyring]

Our 777's and 350's both offer cameras for pax viewing.

The coughpit camera sounds like the PERFECT place to hang my hat..... It would be the biggest privacy issue since the coughpit Voice Recorder.

Really, if you want to know what happens in the coughpit, buy one of those flight DVD's out there for enthusiasts, or ask to visit us after the flight.

jb747 has posted up a few GoPro timelapse videos from inside the coughpit.

Frankly, they are pretty boring, even in timelapse. I guess other pilots might find the technical details fascinating, me, not so much. The view out the windows is the most interesting, but a lot of the time it's dark, or the sun is glaring in, or there's nothing to see but clouds.

The issues for privacy and security of a live cam would be horrendous. And you'd get some plane nut annoying the cabin crew, "Look, I need to get a message to the idiots in the coughpit. I've got a copy of the owner's manual for this aircraft here on my Android, and I can see on the coughpitcam that they have the setting on the CRM 114 Discriminator module all wrong. That's why the wingtips are wobbling around and we're in danger. We'll crash into something, for sure."

What I would like to see would be an exterior cam or two that had some decent resolution for those times when the cabin lights are dimmed, the shades drawn, and we're passing over some interesting terrain on a day flight.

Or for those sitting over the wings or on the wrong side of the plane. I remember a JFK-NRT flight once where we got a message from the coughpit to the effect that on the right side of the plane we could look out the window and see Mount McKinley - "the clearest view I've ever had in twenty years of flying this route," he said, the joy just flowing in his voice. I was sitting in a window seat and had an excellent view out of the left side, so I felt a little disgruntled.

 

[docjames]

What I would like to see would be an exterior cam or two that had some decent resolution for those times when the cabin lights are dimmed, the shades drawn, and we're passing over some interesting terrain on a day flight.

Or for those sitting over the wings or on the wrong side of the plane. I remember a JFK-NRT flight once where we got a message from the coughpit to the effect that on the right side of the plane we could look out the window and see Mount McKinley - "the clearest view I've ever had in twenty years of flying this route," he said, the joy just flowing in his voice. I was sitting in a window seat and had an excellent view out of the left side, so I felt a little disgruntled.

Agree, a decent resolution camera so the view can be seen without disturbing others would be awesome!

 

[jb747]

jb747 has posted up a few GoPro timelapse videos from inside the coughpit.

Frankly, they are pretty boring, even in timelapse. I guess other pilots might find the technical details fascinating, me, not so much. The view out the windows is the most interesting, but a lot of the time it's dark, or the sun is glaring in, or there's nothing to see but clouds.

Welcome to my life.

 

[jb747]

Out of curiosity what additional info do you get from the cameras that you don't get from the coughpit view??

Flying EY A380 now LHR-AUH and I could see some nice approaches while waiting for take-off but ... is it a better side view or wider angle from the tail cam vs well I guess maybe a more front on view from the coughpit??

The camera view will replace the primary flight display when selected on the ground. When on, it shows the tail cam, but as it's a narrow screen it cuts off most of the wings. The lower fuselage cam is shown simultaneously, on the lower part of the display.

We can access the full width display from the tail if we want, and it will be shown on the lower centre display.

The PFD view has markers that show the position of the wing landing gear superimposed on the tail cam display, and offset markers on the lower cam display that help with the right amount of 'oversteer' for turns. We almost always run the nose gear quite wide, to ensure that the middle of the aircraft stays roughly on the centreline of the taxiway.

Before I started flying an aircraft with a nose cam, I used to wonder who left all of the nose gear skid marks. Now I know.

 

[Straubs]

I don't want to see them picking their noses ... I want to think that the person taking me across the ocean is a higher level human than that, whether it's true or not!

 

[Skyring]

I don't want to see them picking their noses ... I want to think that the person taking me across the ocean is a higher level human than that, whether it's true or not!

I am sure that they are. They do not scratch their bums, neither. Of what possible interest or relevance is this to a passenger? Pilots are human beings, too, and there's an entitlement to some degree of privacy in their workplace. They aren't paid extra to be on display, as opposed to (say) cabin crew who are in the passenger gaze most of the time and have standards of dress, appearance and behaviour.

Where coughpit (and tail etc.) cameras could be useful is in crash investigation, I guess.

 

[Skyring]

(Re boring coughpit GoPro videos.)

Welcome to my life.

Mmmm, perhaps that came out a little harsher than intended. I - and many others - were grateful for your efforts in showing what goes on in the coughpit. It was interesting to see the level of activity at busy times, and of course take offs and landings were fascinating to see from a more privileged perspective. That was several years ago, and things like tailcams were not in wide use. We're a little more spoilt nowadays!

But, well, 90% of the footage was night, or ocean, or clouds, and occasionally someone might flick a switch. Not exactly riveting drama.

I suppose that pilots don't get a real lot of time to admire the view on take-off and landing.

But still, I reckon there must be moments of glory when the sunrise lights up the snowcapped mountains…

 

[Straubs]

I am sure that they are. They do not scratch their bums, neither. Of what possible interest or relevance is this to a passenger? Pilots are human beings, too, and there's an entitlement to some degree of privacy in their workplace. They aren't paid extra to be on display, as opposed to (say) cabin crew who are in the passenger gaze most of the time and have standards of dress, appearance and behaviour.

Where coughpit (and tail etc.) cameras could be useful is in crash investigation, I guess.

I think we're agreeing with each other. I work in an operating theatre and I equate it to the same scenario. Of course they are human and deserve privacy. The other way of looking at the same thing is that people need to be able to maintain a separation from those that are opening their abdomens, or flying them across the Earth, because people do not want to know that those people also have frailties. It keeps the illusion that nothing could go wrong, which I think is a large part of how people cope with surgery AND flying.