Australia is joining Indonesia and Malaysia in trialling a new method for tracking aircraft over remote oceanic areas.
Airservices Australia, along with its Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts, will test the new method that tracks aircraft every 15 minutes compared with 30 to 40 minutes previously.
It will use existing technology fitted to 90 per cent of long haul aircraft.
The new measures come after the disappearance of Malaysian airline MH370 a year ago.
The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on board the March 8, 2014.
No firm evidence of the plane has turned up, despite an ongoing Australian-led search of the supposed crash region - the most expensive search and rescue operation in history.
Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss is confident this new method of tracking would have triggered heightened surveillance of the doomed aircraft seven hours earlier when it changed direction.
The technology - automatic dependent surveillance contract or ADSC - transmits the aircraft's position and the next two planned positions.
Airservices Australia chairman Angus Houston says the increase in frequency in which aircraft will automatically report this information allows air traffic controllers to track the aircraft position with greater accuracy.
"This is not a silver bullet, but it is an important step in delivering immediate improvements to the way we currently track aircraft while more comprehensive solutions are developed," Sir Angus said.
Share
