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Authorities may soon be monitoring planes' cockpit activities

Telecommunications giant Qualcomm Inc has developed a high-speed Internet service for airlines that can be used by controllers on the ground to monitor cockpit and cabin activities with a real-time video system. PHOTO: NY TIMES

As investigators continue trying to piece together exactly what happened in the four jetliners hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, several new systems under development could show them -- complete with video and sound -- what is happening on flights as it happens.

At a demonstration here earlier this week, wireless telecommunications giant Qualcomm Inc showed off the latest entry -- a system based on high-speed satellite Internet service that can transmit video, sound and flight information in real-time to controllers on the ground.

Qualcomm had been working on the system to provide high-speed Internet access to airline passengers. But after Sept. 11, the company started redesigning it for cabin and cockpit monitoring.

Other companies are working on similar technology.

Airplane manufacturer Boeing Co and several airlines have been developing a system called Connexion that was originally designed to provide high-speed Internet access to passengers beginning later this year. But since the terrorist attacks, Connexion partners have been carefully considering changes that would also allow cockpit and cabin monitoring.

Separately, struggling satellite telephone company Iridium Satellite LLC also recently applied for Federal Aviation Administration approval for a similar system that could monitor in real-time and record cabin and cockpit sounds.

Cockpit conversations and flight data are recorded on all commercial flights today, but the "black boxes" containing that information are often lost when a plane crashes. More commonly, conversations and the data they record are erased and recorded over at regular intervals.

"Just to have all the information about what's going on on-board, to hear it, to see it in real-time in an emergency situation could be extremely useful," Irwin Jacobs, chairman of San Diego-based Qualcomm said after a demonstration of its new system using his private plane.

But even though authorities could watch and hear a plane being hijacked, it doesn't mean they could do anything about it. For that reason, some air safety advocates say federal and airline money should be spend elsewhere, like on improving airport security.

"What good would it do?" asked Bob Vandel, vice president of the Flight Safety Foundation, which represents airlines, pilots groups and others. "It would give people on the ground knowledge of what's going on, but that's it."

Vandel said his group also is concerned about workplace privacy implications. Every move made by a pilot could be monitored and possibly used against him or her in disciplinary actions.

"How would you like to have three or four cameras pointed at you all the time?" he asked. "It's not exactly voyeuristic, but it's not much beyond that."

Cockpit and cabin monitoring technology would be key to the development of systems that could eventually allow ground controllers to take over operation of airplanes from the ground.

Congress, the FAA and others are looking into developing those sorts of systems, but they may be years away.

The monitoring systems being proposed by the private companies could be available within months, according to the companies, using today's equipment and technology.

Qualcomm's system, for instance, is based on proprietary technology linked through 48 low-orbiting satellites operated by Globalstar Telecommunications LP. Services proposed by Boeing and Iridium would use 66 Boeing satellites that currently circle the Earth.

Jacobs said Qualcomm has already applied for FAA approval and plans to demonstrate the system to FAA and airline officials in Washington in November. He declined to say how much the system would cost, but said it could be installed on commercial planes within a year.

But just like any new technology, the new systems have plenty of glitches.

During Qualcomm's demonstration, for example, audio communication between Jacobs, on the ground, and pilot Phil Laisney was lost several times while the plane was flying over southern California, apparently because of a malfunctioning headset. And while passengers on the plane and a support team on the ground exchanged e-mails and sent digital photos to each other, the video transmitted over the Internet system could only let observers see activity in limited areas of the cockpit and cabin.
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