Science Friday Podcast Recap: How Can Airline Tracking Improve?

The Malaysian Airline crash that leaves many still wondering what exactly happened to that flight that was missing for longer than one would anticipate in this technological day and age has sparked innovation in regard to airline tracking, in order to prevent this from happening again. Robert Mann of R.W. Mann and Company discussed the basics of airline tracking. According to Mann, while the airplane itself knows very well where it is located, the real question is how well the airplane can communicate that back to air traffic control and what that entails. This, in Mann’s opinion, is not due to a lack of technology. He says that the technology has been well known for a while now, and that they problem is merely that people are not executing. He also said that this would not be an expensive implementation. Thus, the only thing in the way of the advancement of this sort of technology is the people who control it.