Jet Crash Forum

First, I would like to express my greatest appreciation for the detailed analysis and great discussion of the AF447 tragedy that has been provided on this web site. This incident is both, emotionally overwhelming and intellectually stimulating, and the very diverse posts here reflect that strongly.

RADAR COVERAGE

I have been following this post and others since the disappearance of AF447 and I found many of my questions answered by pilots, techs, and weather experts. One thing I am still wondering about and have not been able to resolve is information about global radar coverage for intercontinental flights and trans-oceanic ATC.

Since I am not a pilot I was under the (probably false) impression that today most of the world's airspace is under some sort of radar surveillance. Maybe of questionable quality but in existence. Now I learned that this is indeed not the case and suddenly a "LOST" scenario seems much more realistic than before. I am surprised to learn that in trans-oceanic flight much of the ATC is done following 'routes' and altitude configurations and ground ATC, if existent, is done via HF and position estimates. Is there a link or map out there that shows the approximate global (military and/or civilian) radar coverage?

DATA TRANSPONDERS

Many of today's airliners start providing increasing amounts of in-flight amenities, such as WiFi and phone service and I am amazed that there is no transponder signal in place that sends at least aircraft ID, GPS coordinates, airspeed, groundspeed, altitude, and attitude information (very few bits in total) via a satellite up-link (or HF backup) to something like an oceanic ATC center and via VHF (or something similar) to surrounding aircrafts (of which there were several during AF447's final hours). Essentially a beefed up collision avoidance system. If this would be built in a decentralized system with each plane being able to relay the surrounding planes information if satellite reception for one of them is lost, I imagine this would be a very solid system. Is this lacking due to technical or financial restrains? I am blown away by the cheapness of some intercontinental flights these days (they hardly seem to pay for gas) and would not mind paying the extra bucks for a little added safety.

PILOT WX RADIO

On United flight Channel 9 it is possible to listen in to the flight deck radio communication on some flights (pilot discretion). I can only recommend that for anyone flying United, it is extremely interesting to listen to those pilots and ATCs talk. Very professional people at work and a pleasure to tune in. One thing I noticed on many flights across the USA is the amount of plane-to-ground communication related to flight levels suitable for weather and turbulence avoidance. It always gives me a great appreciation for the pilots work and usually a fair bit of warning ahead of expected turbulences. Is there no plane-to-plane communication on flights across the oceans? All those pilots and crews that passed through that storm that night, did they not talk to each other? It appears that some planes where in (relative) vicinity of AF447 and I would be curious to see if there was any communication between them and the AF crew in regard to the weather/icing.

Thanks for any responses.

After looking around a little more I found out about the ADS-B http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Dependent_Surveillance-Broadcast system. That would be a great help! Maybe in the next decade ...

"PILOT WX RADIO

On United flight Channel 9 it is possible to listen in to the flight deck radio communication on some flights (pilot discretion). I can only recommend that for anyone flying United, it is extremely interesting to listen to those pilots and ATCs talk. Very professional people at work and a pleasure to tune in. One thing I noticed on many flights across the USA is the amount of plane-to-ground communication related to flight levels suitable for weather and turbulence avoidance. It always gives me a great appreciation for the pilots work and usually a fair bit of warning ahead of expected turbulences. Is there no plane-to-plane communication on flights across the oceans? All those pilots and crews that passed through that storm that night, did they not talk to each other? It appears that some planes where in (relative) vicinity of AF447 and I would be curious to see if there was any communication between them and the AF crew in regard to the weather/icing.

Thanks for any responses."

United does the same thing on trans-atlantic usually. The pilots often to VHF to one another out on the airway. They also regularly check in by HF with either Ireland or Canada--even when no radar.
My understanding is the the AF447 was at the transition between South America and Africa--(think Ireland Canada). They missed the Africa HF check in.