Central Monitoring System (CMS)

Hi, my name is Central Monitoring System, or CMS in short. I exist in most of the modern aircrafts these days including those manufactured by Boeing, Airbus and Learjet. As my name suggests, I am in charge of monitoring the overall aircraft systems and giving the pilots warning or caution messages when there is a malfunction.

I am named EICAS in this Boeing 777 aircraft. EICAS stands for Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System.


I am named ECAM in this Airbus 340 aircraft. ECAM stands for Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor.

The aircraft systems that I monitor include Engines performance, Fuel management, Navigation accuracy, Hydraulic and Electrical systems and many more. As more and more people are traveling by air these days, my role to assist the pilots in executing a safe flight has become increasingly important. The pilots rely on me to give them the correct steps in the form of a checklist to execute should there be a malfunction in any of the aircraft systems that I monitor.

For example, if one of the landing gears did not come down during an approach to land, I would be able to sense it through my sensors and warn the pilots through visual and audio means. Visual means include showing red colour coded messages on the computer screens. Audio means include continuous repetitive chime over the speakers in the cockpit. Through the computer screen, I would also instruct the pilots to take alternative steps to lower the landing gear such as recycling the landing gear lever or lowering the gear through gravity extension.

Having said all that, like all computer systems, I am only as smart as what my manufacturer made me. I rely very much on my sensors and the computer algorithm programmed into my ‘brain’. I may sometimes, due to system complexity and redundancy, give wrong signals to the pilots. In such cases, instead of helping them, I confuse them. Sometimes, sad to say, this can lead to fatal consequences.

Yes, if you are smart enough to correlate, I exist in every one of you too. My sensors are your eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. I process sensory information to tell you, among many things, whether it is cold or hot, whether you need to wear thicker clothing or not for example.

I also grow smarter as you grow older. I am able to take in and store information. When a new event occurs, I will process it based on what I have been told, i.e. based on your ‘knowledge’. When the same event occurs again, I will most likely process it the same way like I did before unless you consciously tell me to do otherwise. As more and more events and information are stored, my database grows larger and you become more ‘experienced’.

Just one word of caution, like I have mentioned before, I am only as smart as what I have been told. The education that you received in school plays a large part in ‘shaping’ me. What your parents and friends told you and how they behave are also taken in by me, be it consciously or subconsciously. Your religious beliefs will also make me process information in a certain way. Sometimes not based on logic.

I will also put the things that you see or hear through the ‘internal checking’ process. After which, depending on how old you are, I will give you the results as ‘moral judgment’. Then I will also instruct you to behave accordingly.

Certain information, depending on how I am programmed, will make me give you the feelings of happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy, confusion and so on. And based on these emotions, I will also make you act constructively or destructively.

The question is: Are you aware of my existence?

If yes, are you going to make sure that I receive only ‘good’ inputs so that I will grow wiser and greater?

In this human body, I am named the same as the child - Caden Chan.

Sawadeekhap...

I was in Bangkok for 6 days last week preparing for a simulator training session while my wife attended a traditional Thai massage course in a school next to Wat Pho – Temple of Reclining Buddha. http://bml.uoregon.edu/keitan/watpho/

For those of you who have been to Bangkok, you know Bangkok hardly sleeps. Activities go on late or shall I say early into the wee hours in the morning. For every 200 meters we walked, we come across a massage joint or a 24-hour grocery store. Besides savouring authentic Tom Yum Soup and relaxing in the good hands of a Thai massage therapist, we just could not do enough shopping in this Asian City of Angels.

From Jatujak Weekend Market, where we could get practically anything under the sun including pets, to Suan Lum Night Market to seven-storey high Mah Boon Kong (MBK) Shopping Center to posh and trendy Central World, we were truly amazed by the variety and colours of Thai merchandise and hospitality.

That of Entrepreneur Spirit…

Thai people use every single space round the corners and along the walkways to set up store to sell things. Hawker food, clothing, cosmetics, women accessories, etc, you name it you have it. Some of the walkways are really not suitable for displaying goods. They blocked the narrow walkway especially during peak hours. Do they need to have a license to set up those stalls?

Life must be tough for the locals huh? God knows what is their cost price and profit margin. Stall owners usually communicate by punching in their calculators with a price too high for their goods’ appearance. Then we would punch in a lower figure and we would most of the time ended up at a price somewhere in between the two. And their ‘Cop khun khap’ (Thank you), most of the time, come with a warm smile and hands clasp in front of their chests. Then further down the road, another hawker would offer us a lower price for the same merchandise. Sh**! We have since learnt not to ask for the price of the same merchandise again once we have bought them.

That of Thai Hospitality and Urbanisation…

I couldn’t get enough of that warm smile and hands clasp in front of the chest welcome from Thai people. I found it so humble and friendly that it never failed to brighten up my day. But my day soon darkened when I hopped into a cab.

First of all, not all Thai taxi drivers speak English. So we have to get prepared to get out of the taxi if the driver does not understand where you want to go or simply refuse to turn on their meters. Some would demand a flat price if you are going to a congested area such as Silom Road or China Town in the evening where there is high chance of getting stuck in a traffic jam. And you can forget about that warm smile, not to mention the loose change you are supposed to get. Just round it up to the nearest 10 Baht and consider it as a tip (not a usual practice in this part of the world).

That of Bangkok Jam…

Have you ever got stuck in a Bangkok traffic jam? Try it, if you want to enrich your life experience on what urbanization has done to this city. The mass transit train system seems futile in alleviating the congestion even though it is really quite and comfortable. I guess it’s because the train fare is still comparatively more expensive than the taxi fare on certain routes. And the train stations are not at the most strategic locations.

That of Tom Yum Goong, Green Curry and Pad Thai…

Speaking about congestion, we were having Duck Noodle Soup at a roadside hawker stall off Yaowarat Road, Chinatown when it started drizzling. We had to quickly seek shelter when the stall helpers set up big umbrellas next to our small dining table. Here we were savouring the hot soup with steam blurring my spectacles when a car appeared out of nowhere moving slowly towards me on my left. It was trying to move out of the alley where this hawker stall seemed to be one of the many other stalls that were in the way of this car. The driver honked lightly and reluctantly each stall inched out slowly of its way including the fruit stalls behind me and me! I actually had to stand up, pushed my chair aside for the car to go through!

Ha ha! That was one of the most memorable dining experience I had in Bangkok. The steaming hot soup, the humidity, and the sign language in the absence of a menu coupled with the thoughts of whether it was hygienic enough to eat at a roadside stall, they made perfect ingredients for a truly Thai city stay.