Underwater Search
Transmission time should be extended from 30 days to 90 days for the underwater locating devices (ULD) installed in large commercial airplanes to help searchers find flight recorders in the event of a crash into a large body of water, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) says.
In proposals released in early May, EASA also said that large airplanes that fly over oceans should be equipped with a new type of ULD with a longer locating range than the ULDs now in use. As an alternative, EASA said that these airplanes could be equipped with “a means to determine the location of an accident within 6 nm [11 km] accuracy.”
Another proposal said that the recording capacity of cockpit voice recorders should be increased to 20 hours, up from the current requirement of two hours.
EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky said that the proposals, coming as the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was about to enter its second month, were intended to …
