GENEVA -- A deal reached at a U.N. meeting on Wednesday opens the way for satellite tracking of airliners, a major breakthrough motivated by the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner last year.
The agreement allows nations to set aside radio frequencies so that airplanes can be tracked by satellite -- not just from the ground.
Airplane movement is currently tracked by land-based radar systems, leaving around 70 percent of the world's surface uncovered, according to the International Telecommunications Union, the U.N. communications agency.
Modern planes that can send what are known as automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast signals to the ground are now on track to send signals to satellites, too -- with implementation expected by 2017.
The accord to set aside the 1087.7-1092.3 MHz radio frequency for satellite tracking of planes came at the World Radiocommunication Conference, an international gathering organized every four years by the International Telecommunications Union. The International Civil Aviation Organization, the regulator for such aviation, has pushed for satellite tracking of aircraft, as long as current safety measures aren't jeopardized.
"The WRC's action today will enable better tracking and location of aircraft that otherwise could disappear from terrestrial tracking systems," said U.S. Ambassador Decker Anstrom, who is leading the U.S. delegation at the conference. "This is an excellent example of the ability of nations, working through the International Telecommunications Union process, to take action in improving peoples' lives."
The March 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 with 239 people on board exposed weaknesses in worldwide air navigation systems. Debris from the Boeing 777 was found in the Indian Ocean in July.
Officials praised the relatively quick work toward improving the ability to track planes. Shortly after the plane was lost, Malaysia's communication minister urged the International Telecommunications Union to help find new ways of transmitting flight data. In May 2014, the International Civil Aviation Organization called for quick action to allocate the spectrum so that satellites could help track planes in the future.
International Telecommunications Union Secretary-General Houlin Zhao said the agency has "responded in record time to the expectations of the global community on the major issue concerning global flight tracking."
Business on 11/12/2015