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Qatar Airways has decided to introduce automatic tracking of all its aircraft, from take-off to landing, to avoid a Malaysian Airlines-like tragedy.
“We are working closely with a software company and testing the system. This system will enable us to get all flight data that is being recorded in the black box at our operations centre,” Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways, told mediapersons at the unveiling of the Airbus A350 aircraft.
Further, he added that being a governing body member, he would urge the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to make this software mandatory for all airlines.
“I hope Qatar Airways will be the first airliner to introduce this in all our aeroplanes,” Al Baker said, without disclosing name of the software provided and the investment involved.
However, there are media reports that a Canadian airline — First Air — is using a technology called ‘FLYHTSTream’ on a pilot basis. This technology has been created by Calgary-based FLYHT Aerospace Solutions. It will help the airline track its planes at all times as it can live-stream black box data, which can be viewed on television screens on the ground.
Baker said there is an IATA task force now to put pressure on regulators and prevent mid-air collisions like the one that occurred over Charkhi-Dadri, near Delhi, in November 1996, killing all 349 people on board both planes.
The writer is in Doha at the invitation of Qatar Airways
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