Reliability Analysis of Avionics in the Commercial Aerospace Industry

Abstract

The reliability of avionics using commercial-offthe-shelf (COTS) items and products is a concern for the aerospace industry. The results of collecting and analyzing field return records of avionics are documented in this article. Our analysis shows that the exponential distribution is still appropriate for describing the life of most avionics manufactured over the past 20 years. Results also show that failure rates decrease at the introduction of products. An increasing trend in failure rate can be noted, for systems made after 1994, suggesting the need for further investigation.