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World Nations Reach Landmark Deal on Using Satellites to Track Flights

posted by martyb on Thursday November 12 2015, @05:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-many-"landmarks"-at-sea dept.

AnonTechie writes:

World nations struck a landmark deal Wednesday on using satellites to track flights, which could prove key to preventing a repeat of the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 in March 2014. Countries reached an accord at a conference hosted by the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that aimed to improve on the current civilian flight-tracking system which relies on ground-based radars.

"In reaching this agreement... ITU has responded in record time to the expectations of the global community on the major issue concerning global flight tracking," the organisation's secretary general, Houlin Zhao, said in a statement.

The ITU statement made clear the deal was driven by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which was lost en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people onboard. That tragedy "spurred worldwide discussions on global flight tracking and the need for coordinated action," the organisation said. Representatives of more than 160 nations attended the talks, known as the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC).

http://phys.org/news/2015-11-world-nations-landmark-satellites-track.html

[Also Covered By]: Daily Mail

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday November 12 2015, @07:39PM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Thursday November 12 2015, @07:39PM (#262315) Homepage

    Suppose an aircraft went down over the ocean, deviating from its flight path, for reasons not related to hijacking or other sabotage. Sensors or instruments can go wonky, autopilot can go wonky, or generators and power systems could fail.

    Knowing where aircraft are is and being able to quickly hone in on the wreckage will be reassuring to those seeking closure and bolstering confidence that any survivors will be promptly rescued. It's more reassuring to those who may fly as well as those who do fly and those whose family flies.

    In short, I think this is a good idea. But yeah, those two Malaysia wrecks smell funnier than RMS' tasty, tasty toejam.

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  • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday November 13 2015, @12:41AM

    by isostatic (365) on Friday November 13 2015, @12:41AM (#262432) Journal

    What about AF447?

    MH17 was shot down. By Ukriane, Russia, rebels, terrorists, counterterrorists, the US, Israel, Martians, whoever.

    MH370 was no more related to MH17 than AF447 was, or Helios Airways 522.