Entertainment Systems Can Still Be Dangerous, Safety Advocates Say

Despite their growing popularity, one need not look far into the past to see an example of what can go wrong with inflight entertainment (IFE) systems onboard commercial airliners. It was just under 11 years ago that Swissair Flight 111 went into the Atlantic near Nova Scotia after an electrical fire broke out in the cabin, caused by arcing in the system's wiring.

While airlines and manufacturers say modern systems are far safer today than those onboard the Swissair MD-11 that crashed September 2, 1998, claiming all 229 people onboard... there are those who say not enough has been done to prevent another calamity.

Some of those names are also familiar. Former Department of Transportation IG Mary Schiavo is among critics who claim problems still exist with the need for extensive electrical wiring throughout passenger airliner cabins to support the increasingly complex IFE systems.

"We could be setting ourselves up for a déjà vu disaster," Schiavo told USA Today.

Others are concerned that modern systems have migrated from a handful of television monitors mounted overhead, to flat-screens in individual seat headrests. Not only does that bring the equipment needed to support the systems closer to passengers, they also require a lot more wiring. Low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways, an early-adopter of seat-mounted IFE, notes each system adds over two miles of wiring to the inside of one if its Airbus A320s.

"Any time more wiring is added to an aircraft, there is more chance for something to go wrong," Schiavo says.

Passengers notice the potential for problems, too. Ron Goltsch, an electrical engineer who often travels on Continental Airlines, recently noted the control equipment under each seat's armrest generates between 105-115 degrees of heat when not in use.

"That's not a good thing," Goltsch says. "Heat and electronics don't mix well."

FAA data indicates that combination continues to cause problems, though relatively infrequently. USA Today noted four incidents last year in which an "electrical smell" or smoke was detected coming from inflight entertainment systems; from 1998 through last year, hundreds of similar cases were reported, though just 44 were later found to be the blame of IFE equipment.

The FAA, aircraft manufacturers, and airlines say those isolated cases shouldn't be cause for alarm. In addition to advances made in wiring and data transfer technologies since the Swissair accident, they also note items like cabin insulation material have been replaced by less-flammable materials.

"The FAA takes all reports of smoke and fires very seriously," agency spokesman Les Dorr said. "We ensure all necessary actions are taken to determine the event's root cause and to identify any needed safety actions."

That proactive approach echoes statements by the two largest manufacturers of commercial planes, Boeing and Airbus. "Although manufacturers try to design and produce systems that will not fail, real life shows that it may not always be the case," reads a statement from the latter. "What is important, therefore, is the ability of the system to detect an anomaly and to prevent it from getting worse."

One thing seems clear -- IFE isn't going away anytime soon. While traditionalists argue a good book is all the inflight entertainment they need, many passengers at least take their iPod or laptop computers onboard. When similar systems are already installed at their seats, most passengers use them.

FMI: www.faa.gov, Read More About Swissair 111