The Pitot Static System

Ask a pilot: What is the most important aircraft system and why?

One of the most important systems in an aircraft is the pitot-static system. The pitot-static system consists of the pitot tube and static port which feed information to the airspeed indicator, vertical speed indicator, and altimeter. The airspeed indicator measures the speed of an aircraft whether it be in knots or miles per hour. The airspeed indicator measures speed through the differential pressure between the static air and the ram air which is known as dynamic air pressure. The vertical speed indicator works through the expansion and contraction of a little diaphragm which is constantly trying to be equalized by a calibrated leak and pressure from the static port. Finally, the altimeter works through, again an intake of air pressure through the static port. There is a small wafer inside the casing of the instrument that expands and contracts, then turns a set of gears that adjusts the altitude being read. These instruments are extremely important especially when in instrument flight because you have to rely on them to provide you with information that you do not visually have. The pitot static instruments can be heavily affected if the pitot tube or static port gets blocked. This was the case in the unfortunate series of events surrounding Air France flight 447. Olivia Burke (2022) describes how the plane's pitot tubes collected ice mid-flight and eventually froze over. The pilots eventually panicked when the indicators misread information to them, and the plane stalled and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. This is unfortunately not the only time an aircraft has crashed due to a blocked pitot tube or static port, further proving the importance of the pitot-static system and its need for reliability.

References

Burke, O. (2022, October 14). Inside horror airfrance flight crash that killed 228 when pilot stalled jet. The US Sun. https://www.the-sun.com/news/6438186/airfrance-flight-crash-atlantic-ocean/