Missing Malaysia Jet Adds Fuel to 'Live Black Box' Debate

WSJ ^ | March 9, 2014 | ANDY PASZTOR And JON OSTROWER

[maggief]

EXCERPT

Discussed for many years but never implemented, the concept of automatically transmitting data would involve using satellite links to send critical safety information from an airliner to the ground during extreme emergencies or just before a plane goes down.

The information may highlight, among other things, engine and system performance, flight commands by pilots and possible problems with cockpit automation.

The direct transmissions would serve as real-time substitutes when traditional "black boxes" containing digital flight data and recordings of cockpit conversations are damaged or lost, whether temporarily or permanently.

"Such a solution is long overdue, considering the state of technology today and the overriding importance of providing timely data to investigators," said Alan Diehl, a former senior commercial-accident investigator and U.S. military safety official. "We can no longer leave it to the vagaries of finding black boxes in every crash."

As aircraft increasingly connect to satellite and ground-based systems to provide Wi-Fi access to ticket holders, such a pipeline could enable safety data to piggyback on signals intended for passenger use, industry officials say.

[Ready4Freddy]

“Guess they forgot to stir the fuel tanks.”

Kuala Lumpur, we have a problem.

[Ramius]

Those are good points. Merely the ability to precisely locate the position of a crash— Saving the time, expense and effort of an extended search— alone makes it worthwhile.

[livius]

If they wanted us to know...Dems are funny about these things!

[Mr. Jeeves]

A Bermuda Triangle that moves around the world looking to cause trouble.

Sort of a crypto-scientific John McCain. :)

[cardinal4]

As an aircraft dispatcher, I had an ACARS window open at all times on my work desktop. Same principle as sending and receiving texts. I would use it to advise the crew of changing weather, new numbers in the event of a configuration or operational change( losing an AC pack requiring max altitude of 250, meaning new fuel numbers), or junioring a crew(they hate that). There are other versions that connect with maintenance control, providing data..

[diogenes ghost]

The ACARS functions you normally used for communication would not usually be helpful in an emergency, ATC would normally be a higher priority, if available.

The maintenance messages that are automatically sent advising of abnormalities would be the ones to be expected in a dire emergency. Air Malaysia says it received none, and that is puzzling.

In the AF447 crash, ACARS messages pretty much laid out the initial problem, the recovery of the black boxes confirmed it, and showed poor airmanship during attempted recovery.