Last week they were talking to a company that has black boxes that stream live from the “Cloud” that way finding the black box is not necessary..its about 100,000 per plane, and he said I think 300 planes already come equip with them..it would be great if they could come up with something so that the transponder and ACARS CANNOT be turned off, no matter what, that way if someone is in the cockpit and wants to hijack the plane he can’t turn it off
They already have something that works:
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Did Not Have An $11 Computer Upgrade That Could Have Provided Key Satellite Data To Aid Search
But some airlines like Malaysian Airlines will still operate on the cheap and refuse to pay for the service and the equipment.
One cannot make a system that runs on aircraft electrical power that doesn’t have an “off” switch (at least a circuit breaker) because of the risk of electrical fire.
Blueplum’s separate, independent backup system may be more workable, but I’m not sure how to power the system - perhaps the emergency bus? Battery power has a tendency to wane on a system that is never used, and therefore be insufficient when the need arises. Latent failure rises to the probability of no longer being latent.
From an aircraft design perspective, the requirements for such a system are difficult.