Originally Posted by
JetHutek
So if anything comes of this event, has anyone suggested that all aircraft above a certain class (say 12,500 #) be required to be fitted with a GPS tracker?
The cost could be quite minimal. You locate it outside of the pressure vessel, power it from ship power with an E-battery backup good from the time of any reasonable loss of power. i.e., good for 8-10 hours.
These devices already exist and are carried by hikers, skiers, and many people that adventure out into the wilderness alone or in small groups.
The cost to retrofit every airliner and business jet in the world would probably be less than the cost of this search mission alone.
(I KNOW some private jet owners won't want the device, but at least all commercial airlines and air taxi operators could be mandated to fit them.)
Thoughts? I could post links to providers who offer these devices to adventurers, but not looking to advertise for anyone...just the idea here.
surely these devices tell the holder where they are not possible searchers.
WEhat I would like to see ( and I don't care about pilots or bean counters just pax)
A gps receiver and dedicated satcom transponder
Both electrically and physically isolated from all other aircraft systems.
It should be in a rear fuselage location outside the pressure cabin but in it's own enclosed cavity. the power supply should be a separate bus with an inline monitoring device. If system demands too much power of severe fluctuations occur it is disconnected. Disconnection triggers the cavity being filled with nitrogen and loss of signal on the satellite triggers a preset ground plan and notifies crew. All do able in my opinion but one problem I see is polar routes as they must lose sat communication.