It has been over a year since the MH-370 flight disappearance. Despite the endless discussions among civil aviation authorities and numerous investigators, there is still no clear evidence pointing towards the reasons behind it. Nevertheless, based on theoretical assumptions only, Member States of the International Civil Aviation Organization are heatedly debating the adoption of a new 15-minute aircraft tracking standard, which would pave the way for universal tracking of jetliners. However, many experts question whether the new tracking standard would actually offer viable means for a quicker recovery of a missing aircraft, arguing that it is just a populist move to cease the public disputes after the MH-370.
Without doubt, the loss of the MH370 last March emphasized the need for a system that would make it possible to track the exact route of an aircraft. Calls for action expressed by the industry representatives were loud and clear. As the air-safety regulators feel public pressure to deal with the consequences of the MH-370 disappearance, a new proposed standard is set to be adopted by ICAO Council this fall. It will require all commercial aircraft to report their position every 15 minutes.
Urging to weigh the associated costs against the projected benefits, some member airlines still object to the initiative, but ICAO continues to press for the actual testing. “Once ICAO initiates a safety standard, all Member States must automatically adopt that standard in their own aviation laws and regulations. This is their most essential responsibility as the signatories to the Chicago Convention, which qualifies a state to be an ICAO Member State,” says IATA’s Head of Corporate Communications.
According to ICAO, the majority of aircraft already have the systems on board that can transmit their position every quarter of an hour, though the specific numbers are yet to be released. While IATA states that it has no information about the estimated cost of implementing the proposed 15 minute tracking standard, ICAO explains that each operator can decide on the specific technologies or procedures to use for reporting their aircraft locations.
“This means, essentially, a no-cost to very low-cost first step in the establishment of a global tracking system. ICAO does not stipulate the alternatives which can be considered, only the performance requirement the solution must achieve,” adds the Secretary General Chief of ICAO.
“IATA welcomes the ICAO recommendation to move towards the adoption of a performance-based standard for the global tracking of commercial aircraft. The performance-based standards allow airlines to choose the best option for their aircraft & operations—not all airlines are alike,” continues the Head of Corporate Communications at IATA.
The Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF), an initiative launched by IATA and closely aligned with ICAO, found that most airlines track their fleets using a variety of methods. The immediate focus should remain on leveraging the equipment already installed on aircraft. However, the equipment is also dependent on satellites, as there are gaps in the coverage over the ocean or on remote polar routes. Adjusting the satellite coverage areas, tracking 100 000 flights per day and upgrading the existing avionics to suit new regulations would be too expensive for many industry players, especially those from the developing nations. According to Globalstar, the implementation of a space-base satellite aircraft tracking (ADS-B) system is estimated to cost in the range of $25 000 per plane. And there are multiple other issues to consider. For instance, large areas in Africa lack radar coverage or even normal communications whilst most narrow-body aircraft operating in the region do not have the capability for satellite communications.
Moreover, the critically minded industry delegates argue that the MH370 case was not representative to the proposed worldwide tracking changes at all, since the plane’s transponder (a device that emits an identifying signal) was turned off.
There is another reason why some industry players are reluctant to have transponders always turned on. Intensive status updating would add up to $13 per minute for data records analysis, depending on the amount of information retrieved or sent. Uploading every aircraft parameter is rather pricey. The entire travel span of 8 hours per several hundred thousand flights would require enormous investment upfront, which, unfortunately, contradicts with the associated “low-cost” implications.
In the meantime, according to ICAO, the importance of the 15-minute requirement lies in making the first step towards a more comprehensive tracking safety system. So will it actually help to save lives?
Firstly, the initiative will require sizable investment, rather than being a “no-cost” regulation. Secondly, the proposals, according to the industry officials, are less ambitious than many of the tracking concepts proposed before. Moreover, there are few examples in which additional tracking would have actually helped in locating the wreckage. For instance, in 2009 an Air France plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just 5 minutes after the last report, while the long-range had been already programmed to report about its location every 10 (!) minutes. Nevertheless, the search area was still too far and vast for timely rescue and 228 passengers were killed. The Air France aircraft took two years to find.
The latest UN gathering at the High Level Safety Conference in Montreal once again reflects the pressure to demonstrate progress in time for the anniversary of MH370. In the meantime, although the technology — both in the form of on-board systems and satellite capabilities — to track flights around the globe does exist, not all airlines are in a position to implement the processes needed in order to use it. If every airliner in the sky started sending updates in 15-minute intervals today, the quantity of information could overwhelm carriers. Finally, even with the best technology, there is one issue that tracking will never be able to address and that issue is accidents.
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Urging to weigh the associated costs against the projected benefits, some member airlines still object to the initiative, but ICAO continues to press for the actual testing. “Once ICAO initiates a safety standard, all Member States must automatically adopt that standard in their own aviation laws and regulations. This is their most essential responsibility as the signatories to the Chicago Convention, which qualifies a state to be an ICAO Member State,” says IATA’s Head of Corporate Communications.
Moreover, the critically minded industry delegates argue that the MH370 case was not representative to the proposed worldwide tracking changes at all, since the plane’s transponder (a device that emits an identifying signal) was turned off.
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