Having read the majority of this thread and others in the past regarding real time tracking in finally find myself needing to ask the question loudly WHY are some people arguing so vehemently against it?
Multiple comments in all the threads indicate existing equipment is in place and potentially the service could be free. To my mind this is what could be called a no brainer so why the arguments against? Even supposing some cost and regulatory issues it is clearly something of benefit in multiple cases just in recent years. We are after all in the communication age not the stone age.
Allow me to propose a simple scenario. The plane you are on at FL350 has decided for whatever reason not to fly properly any more and for whatever reason no radio calls are made as the plane descends. Apologies for the simplistic scenario but in short this has just happened. Do you
A want to be on a plane where SAR is made aware in one or two hours later and your eventual location is known within a few tens of miles or even further if gliding from this altitude? (Previous poster mentioned 6 miles which alone gives a search area of 113 square miles!)
Or do you B want your position known realtime within a few metres on the surface and potentially (assuming a small simple bit of monitoring software) to have alerts out to emergency services before the flight is over whatever the outcome?
I am a regular Slf and occasional pilot and would like to reiterate my question why are folks still arguing against this?