MH370: How New Technology Could Ensure No Planes Will Be Lost Again

The loss of flight MH370 is considered to be one of the most mysterious aviation disasters of all time. The Boeing flight didn’t just crash, it literally disappeared without a trace. And five years since it took to the air, no debris of the MH370 has been found.

The disappearance resulted in a number of theories on how the plane disappeared, including mechanical problems, hijacking and being crashed by a suicidal pilot. The search and investigation of the MH370 have officially made its case one of the most expensive aviation investigations of all time.

But more than the theories, however, the case of MH370 has also rallied the global aviation industry to find ways to avoid disasters like this in the future. According to Forbes, the airline industry has been fine-tuning their technology to make sure that they can track airplanes at all times.

In the next three years, major airlines will be using a satellite-based system that can help them track aircrafts anywhere in the world at all times. This is seen as the most plausible solution to keeping tabs on airplanes that usually send intermittent signals when flying over open water, an area where the MH370 was believed to have crashed.

Before this, most airlines use the aircraft communications and addressing system or ACARS. This works when the ground station does not hear anything from an aircraft for an hour. The station can transmit a “log on/ log off” message or ping that the aircraft can automatically respond to.

This exchange of signals is like an aviation “handshake.” Before the MH370 disappearance, it was able to send a total of six pings before going completely silent.

The loss of the Malaysian airline brought attention to the fact that most airlines are helpless when traditional radio communications fail, especially when planes are flying over regions beyond the reach of airline radar. Due to this, international agencies like the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the aviation arm of the U.N., have begun looking for ways to ensure that they never lose an airplane again.

Although there are still no relatively “affordable” ways to do this, significant actions are already underway. One system applied is the 2016 Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) - Concept of Operations (CONOPS).

This is a set of future standards and best practices to accurately locate an aircraft. GADSS works by ensuring that once airlines detect a problem like missed position report or possible air distress situations, it can automatically get in touch with important search-and-rescue parties.

Today, people still hope to find any sign of the MH370, and along with it is the hope that the aviation industry will come up with a working technology to ensure that no aircraft will ever be lost again.