Why satellites didn't find missing plane

Why satellites didn't find missing plane

I thought the readers here would find this interesting. I know aviation takes very seriously any proposal to add safety equipment to airplanes, but I can't be the only one wondering why aircraft that fly over the ocean don't carry one or more EPIRBs. That would have saved a day of searching for the lost plane's debris field.

Epirb

Recreational mariners can buy a 406 MHz EPIRB for under $500. Compared to the cost of the plane and the value of the crew, passengers, and cargo, having this technology aboard for flights over water seems like a no brainer.
Even if, at some sort of "SOLAS grade" inflated price for a special FAA-certified unit at ten times that price, it would be less than chump change for a commercial airplane.
Of course lots of things seem simple to me.


Loren

I am not sure where I would mount the "Float-Away-Bracket" for the Epirb on the outside of an airliner. The technology seems a little simpler for a ship.

They have Epirbs on the life rafts; and if the life rafts don't get out what difference does it really make? Just fodder for the news media.

Flights in the US, Canada and Europe are tracked in real time. You can watch it using one of the flight tracking services, for free. I've watched Nancy fly back to to California from Hawaii using a Google Earth flight tracker in 3D and I've watched other random flights just for the heck of it.

When I went to see if they showed flights from Brazil I couldn't find any so I think it is location dependent, not airliner dependent. IOW, the planes have the equipment but for some reason it is not used everywhere. Indeed, some of the tracking services note that the tracking is only possible with the cooperation of the airline and country.

I don't have a link handy but there is a timelapse movie showing every plane in Europe and North America over 24 hours as they fly back and forth. It is interesting to watch the swarms (scary too !) as they all take off and land in bunches as dictated by flight times and constraints on taking and landing during the night.


-Sven

Sven said:

I think it is location dependent, not airliner dependent. IOW, the planes have the equipment but for some reason it is not used everywhere. Indeed, some of the tracking services note that the tracking is only possible with the cooperation of the airline and country.

-Sven

Click to expand...

Aircraft are tracked by radar not satellite, and coverage is not universal in the US, with large areas not covered by radar at altitudes below 18000' above sea level. Airliners always fly in controlled airspace so they can be tracked, except when they head over the horizon of the ocean. If an aircraft disappears from radar they may travel a fair distance from the last fix before they contact the ground, so sometimes there is a large search area for search and rescue.

Military aircraft and I am sure most commercial aircraft carry an EPIRB that automatically activates on a heavy impact, but obviously if they sink into the ocean the signal is lost. Every EPIRB detected on satellite is checked, but with a lot more urgency if coming from Baghdad than from Pensacola (where there are a LOT of false signals from students figuring out the equipment).

If the account from the other airline pilot of a white streak spiralling out of the sky was of the lost aircraft, there may have not been much left intact when it hit the ocean, although you would have thought that items like the buoyant seat cushions would still be there to be found.

Aircraft Tracking

I don't understand why they need to 'find' the black boxes. Seems sooo... last century.

Wouldn't it be mo' betta for all aircraft to have transponders that transmit all of the flight data and GPS numbers like every 5 seconds via satellite to storage servers somewhere on the ground?

In case of problems, all of the flight data (including some degree of history) would be immediately available. Well OK, I concede a little delay while some techie runs a search engine.

I think it's time for some of the bail-out bucks to be spent on a GPS/Computer/Radar based tracking and air traffic control system. If parents can track their kids driving habits by cell phone ... airlines outta be able to track their planes. Hey they might even be able to automatically update the Arrival/Departure board in real time! Imagine that!

I'll bet they could include footage from cockpit cameras as well. It could make a great TV show ... "Biggest Loser" Ok, OK, "Survivor" then?