Qatar aims to be first with flight tracking

Qatar Airways is believed to be testing a new system that could make it the first airline in the world where all flight data recordings are streamed directly from the plane's flight recorders to the ground while in flight.
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The airline’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker said this week that his carrier is testing the system to track all of its aircraft ahead of plans by aviation authorities to announce new global flight tracking standards.
The moves follow the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370 last year.
“All flight data being recorded in the black box will be received continuously in an operating centre on the ground,” Al Baker said
He told a press conference in Doha that he hoped the airline would be the first in the world to be operating the system.
The technology is being tested now ahead of a fleet-wide roll-out.
“Once this has been proven and all the bugs have been cleared then Qatar Airways will, I hope, be the first airliner to introduce this in all our planes,” he told reporters.
Industry analysts suggest that the standards could include reporting an aircraft’s position every minute after an unexpected route change, and possibly every 15 minutes during normal flights, instead of the typical half-hourly report.