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A B737-700's number 1 display unit computer failed in flight which caused one to two second blinking of all EFIS screens.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1023300 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201207 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | FO |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-700 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Data Processing |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60 Flight Crew Total 8000 Flight Crew Type 1600 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
Whilst in cruise flight; 10 minutes prior to top of descent we observed short duration outages/failures of all pfd; nd and engine instrument displays. (Video available) first screen to fail was captain's pfd which would blink for 1-2 seconds or so; within a short time this was observed on all EFIS screens. This situation continued throughout the remainder of the flight. All other systems remained normal and there were no failure warnings or cautions or comparators (such as cds fault or display source). All electrical outputs were checked and found to be normal. Standby instruments functioned throughout. QRH has limited guidance in this situation. Flight conditions permitted day VMC approach to a familiar destination so opted to continue with captain as handling pilot unless the situation deteriorated when pilot with most complete set of instruments would become pilot flying. Blinking screens continued throughout the flight and on the ground regardless of power supplied by engines; APU or batteries. Following engineering diagnostics it was found that the number 1 display unit (captain pfd) has an internal fault with causes the blinking via the optical interconnections. As a pilot I was unaware that a failure within a screen could interfere with other discreet display units.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737-700's Number 1 Display Unit Computer failed in flight which caused one to two second blinking of all EFIS screens.
Narrative: Whilst in Cruise flight; 10 minutes prior to top of descent we observed short duration outages/failures of all PFD; ND and Engine Instrument Displays. (Video Available) First screen to fail was Captain's PFD which would blink for 1-2 seconds or so; within a short time this was observed on all EFIS screens. This situation continued throughout the remainder of the flight. All other systems remained normal and there were no failure warnings or cautions or comparators (such as CDS Fault or Display Source). All Electrical outputs were checked and found to be normal. Standby Instruments functioned throughout. QRH has limited guidance in this situation. Flight conditions permitted Day VMC approach to a familiar destination so opted to continue with Captain as handling pilot unless the situation deteriorated when pilot with most complete set of instruments would become pilot flying. Blinking screens continued throughout the flight and on the ground regardless of power supplied by Engines; APU or batteries. Following Engineering diagnostics it was found that the Number 1 Display Unit (Captain PFD) has an internal fault with causes the blinking via the Optical interconnections. As a pilot I was unaware that a failure within a screen could interfere with other discreet display units.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.