Using satellites to track airplanes

This refers to the report, "I would be 'alone at sea'" (Jan.7). It is a very heart-rending report. Celebrating one's birthday on a cruise liner's deck is a dream-come-true. But the victim's fate had other plans.

It is high time that civilian flights are tracked on real-time basis using satellites. The London-based International Maritime Organisation (IMO) tracks ships around the world using satellites. Then why cannot the global organisations like the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) do the same? Disappearance of aircraft like an Airbus or a Boeing is really puzzling. It should be made mandatory for airlines to track airplanes using satellites as is done by the IMO. The black box flight recorder technology is dated and has its limitations, when  the plane crash occurs in a sea or an ocean. These flight recorders have become obsolete in these days of satellite technology. Latest technology available with the US Navy allows a black box to self-eject and transmit its position. Searching a black box in a vast ocean or sea is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Deendayal M. Lulla
On e-mail