4 ms·

Someone will probably figure out how to send a request to disable auto-pilot or turn off the fasten seat belt sign.

• naikrovek 3y ago
  the airline industry is nowhere nearly as stupid as the software industry with things like this. the communication between plane and wifi/entertainment system, if there is any, is almost certainly one-way. likely, the wifi system providing this info is receiving data from the flight systems and repeating it or transforming it a bit and providing that. it would not surprise me at all if the flight attendants have to program everything about the flight into the system prior to departure each flight, and there is no communication from the aircraft at all.
  • jpalomaki 3y ago
    "The computer network in the Dreamliner's passenger compartment, designed to give passengers in-flight internet access, is connected to the plane's control, navigation and communication systems, an FAA report reveals." [1] (I guess there's some kind of firewall, but we know that those are not always perfect) [1] https://www.wired.com/2008/01/dreamliner-security/ https://www.wired.com/2008/01/dreamliner-security/
    • AdamN 3y ago
      Not a problem as long as you reboot your Dreamliner every once in a while: https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/02/boeing_787_power_cycle_51_days_stale_data/ https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/02/boeing_787_power_cycl...
  • eep_social 3y ago
    IIRC the in-flight infotainment systems are entirely separate from the avionics control systems at the data layer. I recall being told that in some cases even the flight status is actually pulled from a 3p api service rather than hooked into the onboard avionics. There could be some fuckery via shared power or other non-data systems but that’s probably beyond someone sitting in a seat with standard laptop hardware.
  • chaps 3y ago
    Might be one way, but that doesn't mean you can't DDoS it (by accident or otherwise).
  • hackmiester 3y ago
    If the latter was true, then "wheelWeightState" (and others) would not work. But, they do work.
    • MBCook 3y ago
      Not necessarily. All this could be reported up to airline HQ through the satellite link and then the IFE/customer WiFi could be downloading it again to serve locally. That would prevent any need for direct connection between the systems. Is that how it works? I doubt it. But it could be done.
    • aftbit 3y ago
      The weight-on-wheels switch reports its in-the-air status over ADSB. It errs in the direction of assuming in-the-air, which was implicated in a near miss on the ground in 2020 between two Air Canada flights[1][2] 1: https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2020/A20O0029/a20o0029.pdf https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2020/A20... 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj7nG6gJqsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj7nG6gJqsU
• wannacboatmovie 3y ago
  Is this the thread where the web developers speculate wildly without facts or evidence and pretend to know more about airplanes than the aerospace engineers who built it?
  • lr4444lr 3y ago
    Maybe it would help if Boeing 737's crash wasn't making the case for such incompetence.