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After the baffling disappearance in March of Flight MH370, critics accused the aviation industry of "dithering" over equipping jets with real-time tracking systems. Now, with another passenger plane lost, the call for action is becoming more insistent.
Tracking aircraft by satellite and live-streaming of black box data were cited as top priorities by industry insiders after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people on board. Its fate remains a mystery despite a long underwater search west of Australia. Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)—the UN's aviation body—agreed in the aftermath of the incident to mandate real-time tracking.
But they did not set a timeline as airlines mulled the additional costs involved. Many carriers have been losing money for years. Now, with the apparent loss of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 on Sunday off Indonesia, the calls for immediate changes have returned with vehemence.
http://phys.org/news/2014-12-airasia-fuels-real-time-tracking.html
[Related]: http://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/2014/12/iata-no-silver-bullet-solution-on-tracking-in-wake-of-mh370/
(Score: 2) by jcross on Tuesday December 30 2014, @10:11PM
Good points. It may well save lives though, in the sense that we can't learn anything about potential failure modes from an aircraft that we can't find. Another cheap option that occurred to me is some kind of radio beacon mounted to the top of the plane in such a way that after being immersed for an extended period of time it comes loose, floats to the surface, and starts broadcasting. Ideally it would either record the location where it surfaced or be tethered somehow to avoid issues with currents. IIRC they have a similar kind of beacon for boats, but not as automatic.