It ’s been approximately 12 million age since most of us last used a floppy disk , but plain , the antiquated tech still plays a critical purpose in deliver software update to Boeing ’s 747 - 400 airplane .
The discovery comes good manners of cybersecurity firmPen Test Partnersand was ab initio descry byThe Register . As part of this year ’s virtual DEF CON hack conference , Pen Test Partners prove off a video walkthrough of a British Airways 747 after the airway settle toretire its entire fleetlast month due to the global pandemic . The roughly 10 - minute tour is a neat coup d’oeil into the plane ’s rarely seen avionics Laurus nobilis and cockpit — where Pen Test Partners come across a 3.5 - inch floppy saucer drive .
https://gizmodo.com/theres-at-least-one-keyboard-worse-than-apples-butterfl-1843441190
Screenshot:Aerospace Village
Apparently , the thrust is the 747 ’s piloting database loader and needs to be update every 28 days . As in , some poor technologist has to chitchat each 747 - 400 and manually deliver update … or the planes would n’t be capable to fly . And it ’s not just the 747s . Perthe Verge , the majority of Boeing 737s are also updated via floppy record . Operators these planer , according to a 2014 Aviation Todayreport , have binders full of floppy platter for “ all the avionics that they may need . ” That includes significant info like drome , runways , flight path , and waypoints used by pilot burner to make escape plans . It also sounds awfully inefficient , as while some systems may only require one floppy disk of updates , others could require as many as eight floppy magnetic disk .
You ’d think that in the six years since 2014 , someone would have figured out a way to institute the aviation industry into the 21st one C . astonishingly , anAviation Todayreport observe that even in 2020 , a “ meaning number of airlines are still using floppy disk for software system parts loading . ”
To be fair , the 747 - 400 is an one-time plane that first assume flight of stairs 32 long time ago in 1988 , when floppy reigned supreme . These days , however , floppy disk are mostly relegated to maintainingcommercial and industrial legacy organisation — thing that were build to last but run out to hereafter - proof themselves or are n’t well replaced . For example , it was n’t until last twelvemonth that the U.S. militarystopped using 8 - inch floppy disksto assist manage its nuclear weapons system . In 2018 , floppy disk gross revenue actually hold out up when small indie music labelsturned to the 3.5 - column inch floppyat the height of the vaporwave trend .
But get back to planes , modern is n’t always practiced . The Boeing 737 Max , for instance , featured innovative software program system , but glitch resulted in two direful crashes that killed 346 passengers , pass Boeing tohalt productionon the product line at the closing of last yr . Yetanother software issuewith the 737 Max was notice in February , and after more than a class of the planes being grounded , Boeing justrestarted productionin May . Conversely , while the Boeing 747 - 400 is no longer in production , only two have ever been involve in passenger deaths over 8.42 million flights , perAirsafe.com .
Boeing
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , scientific discipline , and culture news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , return to your present .
Please select your desired newssheet and submit your electronic mail to upgrade your inbox .
You May Also Like
