In a pioneering move, a Chinese aircraft manufacturer is using big data and cloud technology to produce airplanes that will be safer to fly.

This development comes in the heels of ongoing efforts to reduce safety risks associated with human behavior during flight, and how to fully recover data that will enable experts to efficiently analyze an air crash, reported the Xinhua News.

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"The time for revolution in aviation safety has come," said Wei Ye, executive director and president of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) America Corporation during an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

The push to build safer Chinese aircraft is considered timely, with the recent confirmation of Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety of France (BEA) that the crash of the German budget airline Germanwings a year ago was deliberately caused by its co-pilot who was suffering from depression.

Using a big data-based computer, COMAC America Corporation is testing the concept of "unmanned flight with human supervision" as a way of lessening the risks caused by human error.

The system has a unique set-up, which operates in an entirely closed environment without any outside influence.  

This computer-piloted plane will be equipped with a hard-drive of big data, which contains flight routes, weather information, emergency processing programs, and flight data obtained from 200 pilots that was accumulated within a span of 20 years.

According to COMAC, these "pilotless" Chinese aircraft could eventually become a trend in civil aviation and might be initially tested on unmanned cargo flights.

"Without the influence of pilots' 'emotions' and mishandling, a computer-piloted plane is safer than a manned one," Ye explained.

COMAC is also capitalizing on a latecomer advantage, as the company is now conducting research and development on improving the ability to trace a plane in flight.

Based on the experience of investigators from flight MH370, it would be difficult to analyze a plane crash, locate the crash site, and conduct a rescue in a timely manner once the plane's "black box" is lost.

To address these concerns, the Chinese aircraft manufacturer is developing a comprehensive emergency recording and tracking system called "Harbinger," which is designed to complement the black box system.

The "Harbinger" works by ejecting from the tail of a plane that is about to crash, takes away the flight data contained in the black box, and records the last few minutes of the crash.

The system is capable of landing either on water or land, and will send a signal so that it can be located immediately after it has landed.

With these features, the "Harbinger" is expected to put Chinese aircraft  at the cutting edge of the multi-billion dollar aviation industry. 

Tagschina, Chinese Aircraft, Comac