In Search of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370
I think I speak on behalf of the flying public and the whole world when I say that news about missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 is both shocking and tragic—yet not unexpected. Rather than looking at conspiracy theories, I think we need to learn more about why three weeks has passed and no plane has been found. How is it that with all the technology we have today we still can’t find the missing Boeing 777?
An article on BBC.com looks at how a United Kingdom-based firm was able to conduct data analysis to help determine the plane's general location from the aircraft's pings. Using data from other flights, the firm was able to assemble the plane's trajectory after ground control lost contact with the plane. Additionally, Chinese and Australian searchers have reported finding debris in the general search area provided by the data analysis team from the United Kingdom.
This large amount of data was analyzed, as the article points out, in a short amount of time in order to determine the plane's position during its last few hours. Although the information is promising, it only states that the plane followed a certain trajectory and crashed into the Indian Ocean.
The process of finding the plane's remains, however, will still have to be carried out, and technology and human intervention will play a role in discovering clues. ABCNews.com posted a comprehensive view of what measures are going to be employed to help discover the wreckage and the flight-recorder data carried on all planes.
So, how did we get here? Why has aircraft black-box technology lagged behind other technological advances? The answer to this question is summed up nicely in a quote from this posting on Gizmodo. “The technology is out there, but it's just a question of political will to recognize this is important," said Mark Rosenker, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Considering this statement, I think it is curious that airlines do not use satellites to track aircraft; instead, they use satellites to provide Wi-Fi on planes, as The New York Times points out. The article goes on to state that some military aircraft have the ability to eject flight-data recorders with a parachute that lets satellites know the location of the crash.
We know the technology to help locate crashed planes exists, but we also know that these technological advances obviously were not implemented in the case of the missing Malaysian plane.
How many lives must be lost and families destroyed before this technology is implemented?
