Like you, I’ve been reading about Air France flight 447, and the 228 people who perished when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. As an engineer, I’ve been wondering why we know so little of what happened, and if somehow the tragedy might have been prevented by existing technology not employed on the plane.
Our society is able to accomplish spectacular technical feats, such as sending people 226,800 miles from the Earth to the Moon, and back again safely, as well as seemingly mundane technical feats, such as determining the precise location of a stolen car, via its GPS device, for the police.
If we can do that, why can’t we keep track of planes crossing oceans well enough to immediately locate them in case of problems, and know what’s going on in them, on a real time basis?
When the Apollo 13 had its explosion 200,000 miles from Earth, ground engineers knew everything which was going on, in seconds, and was able to give radio support to the crew, which helped save their lives, and when it landed, we knew precisely where it would be.
Why can’t we do that with planes crossing the ocean?
The Atlantic Ocean is generally cold enough that a person in the water, wearing street clothing, would suffer hypothermia quickly. If a plane crashes in the Atlantic, it’s critical to immediately locate the crash site, if anyone is to be saved.
We know even inexpensive battery operated GPS receivers for cars, and in cell phones report longitude, latitude, altitude, and compass direction, plus speed if moving. We know that flight 447 was sending back data automatically to Air France.
Michael Boyd, a Colorado-based airline analyst, asks the question I’ve been pondering. “The technology’s there — we’ve had this stuff for 15 years and little’s happened. My BlackBerry can be used to track me, so why can’t we do it with planes?”
If Air France flight 447 would have continuously sent back its GPS location, altitude and speed information, when the plane crashed, via its Aircraft Communication, Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), rescuers could have been immediately sent to the precise spot it went down, to see if anyone survived, and hopefully pluck them out of the water before hypothermia killed them. Don’t tell me about the plane’s power failing. Their electronic systems could be powered after primary power failure via a UPS backup.
Moreover, if the planes speed instrumentation was reporting faulty information, as is now feared, the GPS speed information, if relayed via ACARS to Air France, could have been used in a comparison, and a warning sent to the flight crew. Better yet, the GPS speed information should have been automatically compared to the planes speed instrumentation for verification by the plane’s internal computers, and an alarm sounded if there was a significant difference.
Apparently, it is up to each airline to determine how much and what information is sent through the plane’s data signal. There is currently no regulation by any governmental entity regarding ACARS data transmission and reporting.
Most everyone is aware of the “black boxes,” the plane’s data and voice recorder boxes designed to withstand crashes to help investigators determine why and how a crash occurred. Air France flight 447’s black boxes are at the bottom of the very deep Atlantic Ocean, and likely will never be recovered. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s insane they don’t float, especially considering that according to Jim Hall, former NTSB head under the Clinton Administration, the U.S. military has been using floating “black boxes” for years.
Here’s my quick list of what the world’s government aviation regulators and commercial aviation industry should do in the wake of the Air France tragedy. Within one year, all commercial aircraft flying out of radar range, and within five years, all commercial aircraft, should be required to:
1. Install GPS instrumentation which will indicate a plane’s location, flight direction, altitude and airspeed to the flight crew, the airline, and governmental flight control. The plane shall continuously and automatically compare those readings to the plane’s internal instrumentation to determine if a possible instrumentation failure occurs, and alert all parties if one is suspected. The GPS instrumentation should have a UPS backup.
2. Install ACARS instrumentation monitoring, and data transmission of all critical functions and data of the aircraft to the airline, and specific information such as GPS information to flight control as well. The ACARS should have a UPS backup.
3. The “black box” system used on U.S. military aircraft should be installed on commercial aircraft, with the standard “black boxes” continued to be installed and a duplicate pair installed which can be automatically ejected from the plane which will float, when necessary.
The expense of these improvements, as far as I’m concerned, is more than worth it, considering the lives which could be saved.
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
