kittycat1

How long til the Hollywood blockbuster gets released I wonder?

Beakersful

They'd only get sued by ABC, even is they decide to call it Rost.

Autonomy

This pilot says fire... a potentially quite logical theory

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03...ectrical-fire/

Boomhauer

I think it landed on Lemuria.

The Dean

OK - so why no comment or any other obvious contribution from RR?

Emaaraat2014

The aircraft was shot down by some country... pilot didn't respond to the scrambled jets, hence the shoot down.

the_red_sheep

Would you rather fly with an airline that has all the available information about where it's planes are and how there operating. Or, with one that's scrimping and saving, and not bothering with this...and who knows what else.

scrubbedexpat141

I read something that it's bloody expensive to keep track of all aircraft with systems that can't be interfered with etc. Something like 00's of millions of bucks.

Cost vs 'Use' seems to probably rule it out completely.

Dumbo

I'm with you to a degree. You would think that with the cost of a new A380 running to Dhs1billion+ that airlines would want to know exactly where all their expensive assets are at any given time, bearing in mind anyone who knows what they are doing can switch off the other tracking systems. That is before you take into account the human factor.

But having said that from what I understand the airlines don't make that much money (relatively speaking), the money is made by the airports. More than likely this cost would be passed onto the end user and result in yet another hike in the cost of flights.

As for the plane who knows what has happened to it, there are so many theories and so much misinformation it is impossible to say, either way the chances of finding those people alive is sadly highly unlikely.

Pongo

Thunderstorm, Emmett Brown, 1.21 gigawatts.

Bahtatboy

But presumably the engine comms system can also be disabled...

Has there ever been a case when an airline didn't know where one of its planes was, other than in catastrophic conditions (eg AF in the Atlantic) under which an added bit of comms kit wouldn't have made a difference? Maybe after this we'll see mini-transponders which can't be disabled.

Millhouse

think it went forwards or backwards?

Millhouse

I can't see a transponder saving any lives though... only finding the bodies.


So, other than potentially speeding up life insurance payouts, I'm not sure the benefit to the consumer-- I personally don't care if they have the tracker or not. Wouldn't affect my decision to use an airline or not...

Pongo

Both!

Bahtatboy

Totally agree.