Airframe Vocab

FSDO

Flight Standard District Office. Supervise the flight operations of commercial carriers, checking everything from aircraft maintenance to pilot training.

IRT

Incident Review Team. A group of people who prepare for and respond to any emergency incident, such as a natural disaster or an interruption of business operations. Incident response team members ideally are trained and prepared to fulfill the roles required by the specific situation.

COO

Chief Operating Officer/Chief Operations Officer. Responsible for the daily operation of the company, and routinely reports to the highest-ranking executive, usually the chief executive officer (CEO). The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm

MIS

Meteorological Impact Statement. Unscheduled planning forecast describing the conditions expected to begin with 4-12 hours, which may impact the flow of air traffic in a specific center's area.

NTSB

National Transportation Safety Board. An independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents

Turbulence

a condition of fluid flow in which the fluid is not smooth. The velocity of the flow changes rapidly, and the flow direction often reverses itself

DFDR

Digital Flight Data Recorder. Sealed recording instrument installed in transport aircraft that makes continuous recording of altitude, airspeed, heading, acceleration, and voices and noises heard on the flight deck. Called the "black box"

Aft

at, near, or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an aircraft

Porpoising

Unstable flight condition in which an aircraft goes through a series of dives and climbs.

ATC

Air Traffic Control. The ground-based personnel and equipment concerned with monitoring and controlling air traffic within a particular area.

GPWS

Ground Proximity Warning System. A system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle

QAR

Quick Access Recorder. An airborne flight recorder designed to provide quick and easy access to raw flight data, through means such as USB or cellular network connections and/or the use of standard flash memory cards. The "black box."

FAA

Federal Aviation Administration. A governmental body of the United States with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation in that nation as well as over its surrounding international waters.

Starboard

the side of a ship or aircraft that is on the right when one is facing forward.

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight.

OEM

Original Equipment Manufacturer. A company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer

Vertical

Perpendicular to the plane of the horizon

Horizontal

Parallel to the plane of the horizon

Coolant

a substance, usually a liquid or a gas, used to reduce the temperature of a system below a specified value by conducting away the heat produced in the operation of the system

Counterfit

made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive

Bureaucracy

an unwieldy (awkward) administration system

IAA

Interior Artifact Analysis. A team tasked with organizing the artifacts left behind after a crash and placing them in their original locations.

VHUD

Virtual Heads-Up Display. A technology that creates a larger screen image than is physically present. It typically refers to head mounted display technologies in the form of goggles or external viewers

NLG

Nose Landing Gear (also: nose gear). The wheel under the forward end of the fuselage equipped with a tricycle landing gear