EU rules

The European Commission has adopted new aircraft tracking rules to improve air safety following the accident of Air France flight AF447 and the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

The new rules require aircraft to include tracking systems, underwater location devices and flight recorders, which will improve the tracking and location of an aircraft in distress anywhere in the world.

Companies operating passenger airplanes of more than 27t and carrying more than 19 passengers, as well as cargo aircraft of more than 45.5t must have an aircraft tracking system to have operational control over the flight.

The rules also specify that newly manufactured large aeroplanes must be equipped ‘with robust and automatic means’ to accurately locate the end point of a flight following an accident in which the aeroplane is severely damaged.

This will prevent the disappearance of an aeroplane when all communications and its track are lost abruptly, the commission said.

"The new rules require aircraft to include tracking systems, underwater location devices and flight recorders."

EU transport commissioner Violeta Bulc said: "For the general public, it is not understandable that aircraft are not permanently tracked wherever they fly.

"The rules we adopted today aim to address this deficiency and to prevent the reoccurrence of the disappearances of flights AF447 and MH370."

The technology of flight recorders will be improved, and the recording length of cockpit voice recorders (CVR) will be extended from the current two hours to 25 hours.

Protection of CVR recordings will also be strengthened during their maintenance.

In addition, location devices with an extended transmission time will be added to flight recorders to help locate a missing plane.

The commission recently adopted a new aviation strategy to boost aviation sector competitiveness in Europe following competition from other airlines globally.

Image: The European Commission has adopted new aircraft tracking rules to improve air safety following the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Photo: courtesy of Laurent ERRERA / Wikipedia.