The Associated Press (Ed.). (2015, February 28). Missing MH370: New plane tracking will be trialed after Malaysia plane mystery. Retrieved February 28, 2015, from NBC News website: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-jet/missing-mh370-new-plane-tracking-will-be-trialed-after-malaysia-n314981

 

The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 last year catapulted a wide range of technological advances concerning the safety of planes. Since Flight 370 “vanished last year on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board,” Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia have begun a trial to “enhance the tracking of aircraft over remote oceans, allowing planes to be more easily found.” This new system of tracking will increase the rate at which planes are tracked from every 40 minutes, to every 15 minutes. The new technology will use “satellite-based positioning” onboard aircrafts to transmit the current position.

 

This article relates to environmental science because it shows how transportation is evolving to better the safety of people. In this case, Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia are fighting for another solution to better track planes to prevent another plane disappearance losing a large number of people. It’s about time that someone has stepped up to the plate and tried to come up with a plausible solution for increasing the safety of our planes. There should be stricter air safety regulations to extensively track planes from air traffic controllers and I think this is a step in the right direction.