better technology to track planes exists so why don't more airlines use it?
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Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 would be easier to find if the Boeing 777 was equipped with the latest ...TRANSCRIPT
Better technology to track planes exists so why don't moreairlines use it?
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 would be easier to find if the Boeing 777 was equipped with the latesttechnology.
It was not.
Among the planes searching the southern Indian Ocean is the P3 Orion. The military plane hassophisticated surveillance technology and something Flight 370 did not have -- an automaticdeployable flight recorder, also known as ADFR.
In a crash, the black box would eject from the plane
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In a crash, the combination cockpit voice and flight data recorder would eject. Instead of going downwith the plane it would float on top of the water, providing search teams with a location of the crashsite.
Made by DRS Technologies, this type of black box has been used by the military since the 60's and itis in the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 fighter jets.
Some commercial airlines already have technology that streams data.
One system sends real-time data
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The Automated Flight Reporting System or AFIRS sends real-time data including location from planeto satellite to monitoring stations on the ground.
It doesn't replace black boxes; it works in conjunction with them. But it costs $100,000 per airplaneand airlines are reluctant to spend that.
The airline pilots union is concerned about streaming data for another reason.
"We do not want to see massive amounts of information which could end up being used in some kindof disciplinary fashion against a pilot or an airline or somebody else," said Sean Cassidy, a unionspokesman.
The black boxes send pings
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Just last week, lawmakers in Washington, D.C. pressed the secretary of transportation to moveforward on the idea of ejectable black boxes in commercial planes. The FAA has been working onthis issue for more than 10 years.
The so-called black boxes, the flight data recorder and the voice recorder on the missing Boeing 777,send out a ping that can be heard for a mile or two away by sonar. But the batteries last only 30days.
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