System for Automated Aircraft Seat Floatation Device Inspection

Airlines are governed by government and/or safety regulations that require each aircraft seat is properly equipped with a floatation device for use by the passenger in the unlikely event of a water landing. The current known aircraft inspection process to verify that each seat has the requisite floatation device is time consuming and labor intensive. The Boeing Company has defined and developed a radio frequency identification (RFID) based automated floatation device inspection system that leverages temporal and location awareness mechanisms to automate aircraft inspection process for floatation devices. The developed automated aircraft seat flotation device inspection system mitigates time consuming and labor intensive characteristics and thereby improves aircraft turn-around time and operational efficiencies.