Bombardier has achieved a major advancement of its comprehensive Smart Link Plus aircraft ‘health management’ system with the grant of several key regulatory approvals.
Key approval grant
The company has recently achieved essential TC, EASA and FAA approvals which will apply to almost its entire fleet of Challenger and Global aircraft.
This means that current in-service aircraft owners will be able to install the innovative Smart Link Plus aircraft health management system on their business jets.
The approvals will relate to operators of all in-service Challenger 300, Challenger 350, Challenger 3500, Challenger 605 and Challenger 650, as well as Global 5000, Global 6000, Global Express and Global XRS aircraft.
The Smart Link Plus system
Smart Link Plus is an advanced health monitoring system that collects crucial aircraft data, enabling flight and maintenance crews to quickly prioritize and proactively troubleshoot essential in-flight alerts, increasing an aircraft’s operational efficiency.
Aircraft operators can effectively track, troubleshoot and dispatch a technician based on information received from the system, enabling them to make detailed maintenance decisions quickly and efficiently.
The Smart Link Plus connected aircraft system was first introduced on the Bombardier flagship Global 7500 aircraft and customers continue to benefit from its advanced data-driven capabilities.
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Up-to-date a strong majority of current Global 7500 aircraft customers have now enrolled in the Smart Link Plus service.
With key regulatory approvals now in hand, Bombardier has been gradually expanding the program to offer retrofit options to its in-service fleet of Challenger and Global aircraft.
The Smart Link Plus system will also be installed on all new Global 8000 aircraft as a standard feature.
Maintenance control and ground monitoring
The new system relevantly allows for ground diagnostics and monitoring of an aircraft whilst in-flight, making it particularly beneficial for engineering and maintenance control functions.
With Smart Link Plus, ground crews can use the program’s remote parameter display to independently monitor an aircraft while in-flight to assist in finding the root cause of potential issues.
While in-flight, the Smart Link Plus service automatically sends ground crews takeoff, landing and in-flight fault notifications together with contextual data, allowing the flight crew to focus on other tasks.
Full flight data is automatically transmitted and accessible once the aircraft has landed. Access to full aircraft systems data provides additional information required to troubleshoot more complex faults.
Data display on user-friendly app
Aircraft data is also displayed in an intuitive, user-friendly Bombardier application (myMaintenance App) and is available anytime, anywhere on any personal electronic device.
“The Smart Link Plus system is fundamentally changing the way Bombardier supports its customers,” said Paul Sislian, Executive Vice President, Aftermarket Services & Strategy, Bombardier.
“With Smart Link Plus, customers can make concrete maintenance decisions in real time – significantly enhancing the efficiency of their operations.”
Bombardier is now working to finalize all regulatory approvals for operators of Challenger 604 and Global 5500 and Global 6500 aircraft. Approvals are expected from late 2023 through early 2024.
