Qatar Airways Will Make Sure Its Planes Don’t Disappear Into Thin Air

Qatar Airways will use new technology to start constantly monitoring its aircraft, irrespective of where they are, becoming one of the first airlines to track planes on a real-time basis, Doha News reported.

The airline will be the launch customer of GlobalBeacon, a tracking solution by Aireon LLC and FlightAware, which is designed to provide tracking of aircraft equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (A-DSB) technology.

The solution will be operational by 2018, after which the technology will start giving the carrier real-time updates on the location of its aircraft, even if they are in remote areas. This is three years before UN’s civil aviation body International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) recommendation for compliance by 2021.

In March 2016, the ICAO announced the Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System (GADSS), help improve the ability to detect commercial aircraft in remote locations.

The key components of GADSS recommend that aircraft report their position to the airline’s operations centre at a minimum of once every 15 minutes under normal flight circumstances.

GlobalBeacon, which leverages 66 low-earth-orbit satellites, will provide this minute-by-minute reporting capability for aircraft.

“GlobalBeacon will integrate with our existing ICAO 2018-compliant flight watch technology and enhance our fleet management,” said Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker.

With a fleet of 190 aircraft, Qatar Airways, and GlobalBeacon are an ideal match and no new avionics will now be required, Aireon CEO Don Thoma said.

Qatar Airways airline decided to avail of innovative technology to enhance aircraft monitoring after Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014.

Despite extensive searches and analysis of satellite communication data, MH370 has still not been found. This is because it was flying over open ocean from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, out of the reach of radar.  In July this year, an Indian Air Force An-32 aircraft, that was on a courier flight from Chennai to Port Blair, also suddenly disappeared over open ocean and is yet to be traced.Such

Such missing plane incidents have also prompted a rethink about existing monitoring technologies among players in the aviation industry.

ICAO has stipulated a requirement that aircraft manufactured after January 1, 2021, should have autonomous tracking devices. These devices can send location-related information at least once a minute when an aircraft is in distress.