Why planes could still vanish into thin air in the 21st century like MH370

The slow rollout of more-frequent tracking comes during a period of sustained growth for the global aviation industry, especially in Asia

In an era where people can track smartphones in real time, the world's most-advanced transportation industry still isn't obligated to do the same.

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 prompted a slew of safety proposals meant to prevent another jetliner from inexplicably vanishing. Yet four years later, that possibility remains.

That's because international requirements for new planes to broadcast their locations every minute when they're in trouble don't take effect until January 2021. The disappearance of Flight 370 remains the biggest mystery in modern aviation, and the search to find it is the world’s longest hunt for any jet. Last month,