A vibrating seat may be joining the technologically advanced airline cockpit of the future. There are already plenty of visual and aural alarms in the cockpit to warn pilots about things requiring immediate action, but now some think there might be a subtle way to remind them of some more routine actions.
The idea comes from patent documents filed by the Boeing company. The airline maker could integrate a simple device that would provide a tactile signal to the crew that would remind them when certain actions need to be taken such as radio calls, and could even be activated remotely by air traffic controllers.
There are plenty of euphemisms that could be used to discuss maintaining crew awareness and helping situational awareness. But the idea of a vibrating seat seems to be squarely aimed at pilots falling asleep in the cockpit or becoming so distracted that they might overfly their destination as happened to a Northwest Airlines crew in 2009.
According to a story in Flight Global, there is no indication of plans to put the idea into service. The patent papers were dated January 27.
In addition to being triggered by air traffic controllers, the seats could also be pre-programmed to simply remind pilots of scheduled tasks during a flight. We’re guessing no quarters will be required.
Photo: Fly For Fun/Flickr
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