Indian regulator asks airlines to use effective tracking systems

Taking into view the recent Malaysian Airlines tragedy, where the aircraft went missing with all its passengers and crew on-board, the Indian safety regulator Wednesday said it has issued fresh guidelines to avoid such incidents.

According to a new safety circular by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), issued May 6, the operators have been asked to use on-board aircraft communications addressing and reporting (ACARS) or automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B) system that can be used for real-time tracking of aircraft.

"This is significant in view of the preliminary report released by ministry of transport, Malaysia, into the accident of MH-370 on March 8, 2014, which has revealed that the location of wreckage is still unknown due to the fact that there is no real time tracking of the aircraft," the DGCA said in a statement.

"Operators have also been advised to devise a procedure for effective tracking of the aircraft while flying over areas where there is no coverage of ACARS or ADS-B."

The DGCA said that during the last five years, there have been two occasions when large commercial transport aircrafts went missing and their last position was not accurately known.

"While commercial air transport aircraft spend considerable amount of time operating over remote areas, there is currently no international requirement for real-time tracking of the aircraft," the statement said.

The statement added this uncertainty resulted in significant difficulty in locating the aircraft in a timely manner in both the cases.