[LINK] stream weather/GPS/flight data

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Flight 477 prompts calls for technology updates

Aviation eBrief | 06/04/2009
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/aopa/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=9D677C74-
B8BF-40BE-8B8E-26F676A72F48&copyid=737E5BE6-C811-4DE3-9357-EEE5A8ABD82E


The crash of a French passenger airliner could help change the face of 
several key aviation technologies. 

With officials warning they may never find the black boxes from Air 
France Flight 477, some experts are calling for a feature that would:

automatically stream flight data to land-based computers, making on-board 
recorders redundant. 

One former NTSB official says such transmissions are "totally possible 
today" and, already in use at some helicopter fleets. 

Meanwhile, the mid-ocean crash also is ratcheting up pressure for 
satellite-based GPS tracking of aircraft, because current radars extend 
only 200 miles from land. 

Besides helping air traffic controllers keep better watch over aircraft, 
satellite-based systems also can beam real-time weather maps directly 
into airplane cockpits -- a feature that might have saved the Air France 
plane. 

"The point is if we have GPS to monitor airplanes, could it save lives?" 
asks aviation consultant Michael Boyd. "The answer is clearly yes." 

Chicago Tribune (06/04) Wall Street Journal (06/04) Bloomberg (06/04) 

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Cheers,
Stephen