3 ms·
How is that relevant at all? GPS works pretty much anywhere in the world, even in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It would not penetrate water or survive the c
by gusmd 11y ago
How is that relevant at all?
GPS works pretty much anywhere in the world, even in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It would not penetrate water or survive the crash, which means it couldn't be tracked NOW. Nonetheless, you could know the position a few minutes (seconds?) before the crash, which would make finding the aircraft MUCH easier.
- ssmoot 11y agoGPS is one-way. Even if your phone could get a signal, it wouldn't be broadcasting to SARSAT (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cospas-Sarsat_Programme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cospas-Sarsat_Pr...). You'd need something like this: https://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/epirbs-and-accessories/globalfix-pro/#sthash.2Ehnd1FT.2ScMgqFT.dpbs https://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/epirbs-and-accesso... and even then, that's manually deployed and needs line of sight to the satellite network. I'm not sure why a plane wouldn't have at least a few such devices on board in case of crash (there's no monthly fee or anything). Just under the skin perhaps so they'd only automatically deploy during something catastrophic? I'm sure someone knows.