Preventing another Flight MH370: Airplanes to be fitted with remote black boxes and will be tracked for free
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Following the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia flight MH370 in March, a satellite firm is now going to track flights free of charge to prevent such a disaster happening again.
A total of 11,000 commercial passenger planes will be monitored and followed by London-based Inmarsat – the firm that helped reveal the last position of MH370 in March.
In addition, the firm will also provide a 'position reporting' tool in case flights veer off track, and a so-called 'black box in the cloud' to track real-time data remotely.
Inmarsat's technology, pictured, helped reveal the last position of missing flight MH370 in March, and now the London-based firm is offering free tracking to 11,000 commercial passenger planes. In addition to free tracking, the company is also offering a 'black box in the cloud' that will store historic and real-time flight data
HOW ARE FLIGHTS TRACKED?
On board a plane there are cockpit voice and flight data recorders – the 'black boxes' – which each include a 'pinger' that sends a transmission up to 30 days after submersion underwater.
In the black box is an ASD-B flight transponder which, unlike the GPS in a car, broadcasts its location by sending information back to air traffic controllers every second.
Crews are also able to speak to their airline through discrete radio channels.
The cockpit voice recorders can additionally reveal conversations and other sounds to hint at problems that may have occurred during the flight.
This remote black box is triggered automatically if the plane deviates off course, or communication is lost. and also sends historic recordings to a team of experts.
Inmarsat's service additionally streams cockpit voice recordings.
This service is being offered to planes which are already equipped with an Inmarsat satellite connection, which the firm claims is 'virtually 100 per cent of the world's long haul commercial fleet'.
The London-based company made the announcement ahead of an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conference in Montreal, Canada today.
Analysis of data from Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch in March showed the Malaysian Airlines plane crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
Rupert Pearce, chief executive of Inmarsat, said: 'We welcome and strongly support ICAO's decision to place the delivery of next-generation aviation safety services at the heart of the industry's agenda at its meeting on 12 May.
'Inmarsat has been providing global aviation safety services for over 20 years and we are confident that the proposals we have presented to ICAO and IATA (International Air Transport Association) represent a major contribution to enhancing aviation safety services on a global basis.
Inmarsat's remote black box is triggered automatically if the plane deviates off course, or communication is lost, and also sends historic recordings to a team of experts. The service additionally streams cockpit voice recordings. This graphic reveals how plane tracking technology works
The service is being offered to 11,000 planes already equipped with an Inmarsat satellite connection, stock image of a Boeing 777 cockpit is pictured. The firm claims the service will cover 'virtually 100 per cent of the world's long haul commercial fleet'
'In the wake of the loss of MH370, we believe this is simply the right thing to do.
'Because of the universal nature of existing Inmarsat aviation services, our proposals can be implemented right away on all ocean-going commercial aircraft using equipment that is already installed.'
Flight MH370 vanished on 8 March with 239 people on board, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Evidence revealed on 15 March by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak suggested the jet was deliberately diverted by someone on board.
Five days later, Australian search teams announced they were investigating two objects spotted on satellite images in the southern Indian Ocean.
On 24 March, Razak said analysis of satellite data - by Inmarsat - confirmed the plane went down in the Indian Ocean. More debris was spotted on 28 March.
The latest update, at the start of last month, claimed to have detected ultrasonic signals from the plane's black box.
Two months on, the plane has still not been found and an update on the search efforts is expected on Wednesday.
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