From Geoff Willis
Ensuring that “black box” voice recorders have battery back-ups seems sensible (5 March, p 4). However in an era when the smallest of companies routinely backs up its files to a remote location, storing data at the point of production, never mind 8 kilometres up in the air, seems a little outdated.
At any one time, an aircraft must be in direct line of sight of dozens of others, not to mention satellites and ground stations. It should be technically straightforward to set up an “internet in the sky” to automatically pass flight data to the computers of airline operators, aviation authorities, and so on.
With suitably designed software, it might also allow staff on the ground to identify technical problems at an earlier stage.
Pontefract, West Yorkshire, UK
