Some Boeing Planes Still Use a Floppy Disc to Transfer Updates: Report
When we think airplanes, we think sophisticated technology and mind-numbing software but a revelation might surprise you. There are planes that still use floppy discs. A few models Boeing 747 still use floppy discs to transfer important information like flight paths.
According to a report The Register, Boeing 747-400 uses 3.5-inch floppy disks in order to upload navigation databases. This interesting revelation was surfaced by Pen Test Partners where they were the recently looking at an abandoned aircraft.
During the walkaround, a person gave a walkthrough of the 747-400 and showed the avionics bay and the flight deck. Due to the recent slump in air travel, a lot of carriers have been getting rid of a part of their fleet. A UK-based airline called Big Airline decided to get rid of its B747 planes. One of the planes were used for the tour.
Since the plane was built in late 1990s the airliners still use 3.5" floppy drive. The video shot on the plane explains "this database has to be updated every 28 days, so you can see how much of a chore this has to be for an engineer to visit." The floppy drive is hidden behind a locked panel.
While the old Boeing 747s have stood the test of time the manufacturer’s latest Boeing 787 Max has been grounded in many countries after two fatal crashes that killed 346 passengers. This was attributed to a flaw in the plane’s software. The company has gone through various rounds of testing after the accidents.
———
©2020 the Mint (New Delhi)
Visit the Mint (New Delhi) at www.livemint.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
