A Boeing 777-200 operated by Malaysia Airlines leaves Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing with 227 passengers, of which two-thirds are Chinese, and a Malaysian crew of 12.The idea of tracking airplanes in flight or using deployable black boxes that can broadcast their location via satellites has been around for many years and gained attention after an Air France jet crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009; it took investigators two years to locate the black boxes, two miles underwater. But the disappearance of the Malaysian plane and improvements in satellite technology could provide a new impetus to track planes more closely, experts said.
"The technology is out there, but it's just a question of political will to recognize this is important," said Mark Rosenker, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board and a retired Air Force major general. "What hasn't improved is that we still have to wait to recover those boxes to begin accident investigations. Precious days are wasted."Military airplanes and helicopters used in offshore exploration have flight-data recorders that can eject with a parachute in a crash. They emit a satellite signal that immediately transmits the aircraft's identity and location. But adding an ejection system on a mercial jet would require expensive redesign.
As the hunt for the Malaysian jet turns to the Indian Ocean, investigators will seek to recover the plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. Generally referred to as the black box, these systems are in fact painted bright orange so they can be spotted easily. They record hundreds of flight parameters for 25 hours, as well as up to two hours of pilot munications and cockpit sounds.They are built to survive crashes, withstand fires with temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit for more than an hour, and survive in water depths of 20,000 feet for 30 days. They are equipped with beacons that transmit ultrasonic pulses every second the moment they e in contact with water.But while the technology has proved invaluable in countless accidents, the flight recorders must first be recovered to be of any use.