Q-Alpha Has Been Thoroughly Tested
The Q-Alpha display has been thoroughly tested in Boeing 737-800, Cessna Citation, and Gulfstream G550 and G200 simulators.
The system has also been tested in a Cessna182 aircraft.
Test Pilot Testimonials
During the 737 testing, company and NASA test pilots flew more than 200 test conditions that included descents, landing approaches and go-arounds from missed approaches. Pilot comments included:
“This device will help guys fly stable approaches”
“It kept me ‘on-speed’ without distracting from other tasks”
“The display gave me a timely alert when airspeed deviated below Vref”
“It made the Go-Around feel safer, especially ones that were initiated late”
“This display will reduce FOQA exceedences”
“Go-Arounds will be much less likely”
“Having the ‘green doughnut’ in my peripheral continued to make me comfortable, especially during Go-Arounds. And I never had to look at it.”
The tests at NASA confirmed that the algorithms in the Q-Alpha display are robust and effective and that the alerting approach was: “Instantly recognizable, clear and unambiguous, especially to distracted pilot”. These are the keys to our competitive position in the market.
Asiana 214 Simulation
During the crash of Asiana 214 on a clear day in San Francisco the on-board air speed alerting systems gave the first warning at 114 knots, an altitude of 100 feet and 11 seconds prior to impact – too late for a recovery. It has been established that recovery was not possible no matter what the pilot did.
The Q-Alpha Display would have provided a warning at 132 knots, an altitude of 480 feet, 31 seconds prior to impact – allowing an easy recovery. In the following video of tests at NASA, the pilot was instructed to ignore the Q-Alpha alerts during a simulated approach at SFO. It shows that the Q-Alpha alerts would be virtually impossible to ignore in real life.