[beerman]

I still don't get how in the day and age of GPS you can lose a jet?

I hope they turn up and all is well, but the longer it goes on.....

Air Asia QZ8501: Reportedly lost contact between Indonesia, Singapore | Gold Coast Bulletin

[Phil №❶]

 

[Doggie 1]

It's puzzling, isn't it?

[beerman]

AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore loses contact

[FatBoy]

A sad event.

I have a GPS too, but you don't know where I am.

They will know where their last reported point is, and work from there.

[Dazzler]

It was pretty stormy when they asked to go higher. I'm assuming it will turn out to be an accident rather than foul play.. I don't hold out much hope. 

One of my best mates is flying home from Burma to Tassie tomorrow with his Burmese wife and 3 kids. He usually uses Air Asia.. 

[Shambles]

They're talking sight of wreckage (unconfirmed)...

[Just Rick]

F*#k me,we have satellite tracking and control's on trucks,why can't this be employed on planes

[Doggie 1]

F*#k me,we have satellite tracking and control's on trucks,why can't this be employed on planes

I'm no expert on this topic and will default to FatBoy & Gonz, but I agree.
I must be missing something.   

[CraigB]

Well I was going to fly AisAsia to Singapore on the 12th of Febuary but I have changed that and booked with Scoot airlines as of today.

[FatBoy]

F*#k me,we have satellite tracking and control's on trucks,why can't this be employed on planes

It is, however it costs money and weight, neither of which the flying public on "low cost" carriers want to pay for.

Our aircraft have sat tracking, which the client pays for.

Maybe they do have it and didn't get the opportunity to activate the "emergency" button. A plane at 40,000 ft will travel a long way before it hits the water, even without wings.

[beerman]

F*#k me,we have satellite tracking and control's on trucks,why can't this be employed on planes

at least 2 billion reasons, and the airline industry isn't exactly rolling in Cash.

[Phil №❶]

The ADS-B would give the latest location, but that will obviously stop if the juice is cut to the device. If the plane broke up @ 38K feet, bits would be scattered over a huge area. If there's talk of sighting wreckage, in what is poor weather, then we should know very soon.

[beerman]

F*#k me,we have satellite tracking and control's on trucks,why can't this be employed on planes

It is, however it costs money and weight, neither of which the flying public on "low cost" carriers want to pay for.

Our aircraft have sat tracking, which the client pays for.

Maybe they do have it and didn't get the opportunity to activate the "emergency" button. A plane at 40,000 ft will travel a long way before it hits the water, even without wings.

Problem with relying on the pilot to notify of a problem is that they are dealing with the problem. Tunnel vision would ensure that they focus only on trying to correct the problem you can only do so much in fight/flight and your fine motor skills are the first to go (if they don't totally freeze from overload).

Perhaps there needs to be a system that automatically opens the radio where certain conditions are triggered, so that air traffic control can hear there is a problem, attempt to locate the plane and get things rolling should it not be corrected.

[beerman]

The ADS-B would give the latest location, but that will obviously stop if the juice is cut to the device. If the plane broke up @ 38K feet, bits would be scattered over a huge area. If there's talk of sighting wreckage, in what is poor weather, then we should know very soon.

Reports are they don't have enough fuel to still be flying.....

[FatBoy]

The priorities in ALL aircraft emergencies are:

1. Aviate (fly the aircraft)
2. Navigate (safe height heading and speed)
3. Communicate

Communicate is last for a reason, 100+ years of aviation have shown that telling somebody on the ground that you have a problem (which may not be a problem) is useless as they can't do anything about it anyway.  You would get too many false reports "Oh, another Airbus has sent a message about engine problems."  More like the boy who cried wolf.

[Shambles]

FORTY BODIES recovered so far.

RIP, if you can.

BBC News - AirAsia QZ8501: Forty bodies found in missing plane search

[Doggie 1]

Really bad news, but closure at least.

[Phil №❶]

 

[Dazzler]

Jeepers, I hadn't heard/seen that :sad: