Background
Cabin crew door training has traditionally depended on full-size physical door mock-ups, or on a full-scale fuselage section, for every aircraft type an airline operates. Each mock-up occupies floor space, needs maintenance, and can only reproduce the handful of scenarios its mechanism was built for.
ITA Airways, Italy's flag carrier, has replaced that approach for part of its fleet with a mixed virtual reality device that pairs a virtual cabin with a physical robot.
The deployment
A trainee wears a VR headset and works inside a 3D simulation of the aircraft cabin, its doors, the over-wing exits and their controls, complete with cabin announcements and the ambient sounds of the flight environment. Door handles are operated by hand rather than with controllers, using hand tracking.
The physical sensation comes from a programmable robotic arm with force feedback, which reproduces the movement, weight, pressure and locking mechanisms of a real door, and the resistance of its handle. Software drives door behaviour, sequences the training scenarios, and records trainee performance data in real time.
ITA Airways says it is the first airline in Europe to use the system for door and over-wing exit training on Airbus A220 aircraft, and for the exit doors of the Airbus A321neo. The carrier expects to extend the simulation to other aircraft types in its fleet.
Hardware and software
The device is the Door Trainer built by AirVR, a Danish specialist based in Valby, Copenhagen. AirVR describes a system made up of:
- a robot and robot controller that reproduces door movement and handle positions
- a control PC and hub that runs the VR simulation, coordinates the robot and records session data
- a VR headset providing the visuals and hand tracking
- a stationary handle stand for fixed and wall-mounted handle configurations
- a control panel with emergency stop and power controls
The supplier builds a virtual replica of the operator's own galley or over-wing exit area and tailors each drill to that airline's standard operating procedures. The whole rig installs in roughly 6 m² at the airline's own base.
The device was developed as part of the integration projects between ITA Airways and the Lufthansa Group.
Training scenarios
Because the door is virtual, instructors can move between normal, abnormal and emergency situations without changing any physical model. The system can simulate malfunctions, adverse environmental conditions and complex events, and the supplier lists stressors such as smoke, fire, water and ambient noise, plus failure cases including door jamming and power-assist failure.
ITA Airways' chief operations officer, quoted below, framed the move as an investment in the airline's people and in a safety culture that evolves with the technology.
Outcomes
Compared with traditional door trainers, ITA Airways reports greater realism and immersion, a significantly wider range of practicable scenarios, and lower space and maintenance requirements. A single device can stand in for several different aircraft door models, and removes the need to tie up a full-scale fuselage for training.
