How to not lose your flight like MH370

The technology to control aircraft by radar has hardly changed since the 1940s, ground stations cannot cover the range beyond the coast of 370 km. The disappearance of MH370 has made the need to monitor aircraft globally become urgent .

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The Boeing 777 carrying Malaysia Airlines' MH370 number disappeared on March 8, 2014 while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. The mysterious disappearance of MH370 raises many questions for the aviation industry and the application technologies of the world.

Ground-based air traffic control stations can lose sight of planes as they venture into areas where radar towers cannot reach, including the southern part of the Indian Ocean - where MH370 is given. is falling. This is like when you lose mobile phone waves when you go into the deep forest.

" Looking at air traffic control technology, it can be said that there has not been much change since 1940. We are still using radar as the main vehicle to observe the aircraft. It is ironic. It's an act. You often have Wi-Fi waves when you are in the cabin. Sometimes, you can connect to the world better than pilots, "Cyriel Kronenburg, vice president of marketing for the air traffic surveillance company. Aireon, said.

After a year of disappearance, the Boeing 777 with Malaysia Airlines MH370 is still a hot topic of a series of hypotheses.(Photo: CBS News)

Air traffic control determines the location of an aircraft that relies on ground-based radar towers . But because radar cannot reach a distance of more than 370 km off the coast, long-distance planes cross oceans or as far away as Africa and the poles of the earth will be out of range. To ensure the aircraft is at a safe distance from another aircraft, the control station takes them into predefined flight routes, to ensure a distance of 130-160 km from each other.

For this reason, many planes have to follow the correct tracks, even if they can fly a more straightforward route and thus arrive faster and more fuel efficient.

According to Aireon executives, if you can see the plane as it passes through areas where radar cannot control, we will not have to rely on economically expensive routes. The key to preventing an incident similar to MH370 is to find a more effective method of tracking, although the plane is far from the checkpoint on the ground. That's what Aireon and another company called Rockwell Collins are trying to do.

Track planes from space

Aireon partnered with satellite communications company Iridium and plans to replace 72 satellites in their global network. Basically, Aireon leases part of the satellite's capacity to monitor, store and provide aircraft location information with a GPS-based system called Automatic Independent Monitoring Transceiver System (ADSB ). This new technology is being used more and more in the aviation industry, which is required on European - American flights from the beginning of 2020, and will be used over 90% of long-distance ocean flights.

When installing satellites, Aireon will monitor all aircraft with ASD-B about 8 seconds each, even if they fly through Africa or the polar region . This method can determine the near real-time location of any ASD-B-enabled aircraft.

Aireon sells data to customers who are non-traffic control stations through a monthly subscription. In an emergency such as losing contact with MH370, they will provide it free of charge to any country in the world.

" We will have this global data, and it is irresponsible to do nothing about it ." Kronenburg said. Aireon plans to launch the first satellite later this year and complete their system in Earth's low orbit in 2017.

Rockwell Collins's ARINC MultiLink global tracking system incorporates multiple data sources, helping to locate aircraft at any time and place in the world.(Photo: Rockwell Collins)

Meanwhile, Rockwell Collins will observe ASD-B from the ground along with the radar system, an automated reporting system called ADS-C, high-frequency data path and any form of data positioning Which they can handle. By combining all available information and other potential supplies, they can draw a " complete picture " of the location of every aircraft at any time.

" In today's global aviation environment, there is no single data source that provides efficiency in flight tracking. When combining a variety of data sources, we can automatically choose choose a combination of supplies, allowing the airline to locate the plane anywhere in the world in the most economical way, "Jeff Standerski, vice president of information management at The company said.

Rockwell Collins has partnered with 125 airlines around the world. On March 9, they introduced the global aircraft tracking service called ARINC MultiLink, a solution described as suitable for large and small airlines. An important part of the system is capable of sending a warning signal when the aircraft stops transmitting.

Part of MH370's flight control and search signaling system has been turned off or not replaced on time. According to the preliminary report of Malaysian authorities on March 8, the battery of a black box signal generator has not been replaced since its expiry date in December 2012.

If a system like ARINC MultiLink exists at the time of the aircraft's flight, it can send a notification about Malaysia Airlines when the beacon battery goes down.

" If information is more complete, the world may be different, " David Poltorak said.