How do you lose a plane?

Lesson learned...it's a BIG fuckin' world.
We're tiny. (even a plane)

A little more than 10 years ago, I was in charge of the backend of a Satellite Telecommunications firm.
The specialized in units that were applied to transportation, etc out in the middle of nowhere or travelling through it.
Many vehicles, including planes, trains, trucks and emergency transport go through areas where there are no terrestrial communications.

Most of your communications, come from towers and such.
These units moved data & information to a geosynchronous satellite, 21,000 miles above the Earth.
Data packets that come typically through your phone are much more substantial than what you can do through satellite units...even to this day.

And the communications are often not consistent...like when you get no signal going thru a bad area...or because of bad weather.
Now add on to that signals that are in bad weather and going through remote areas...the combinations makes moment by moment communications difficult if not impossible, even in emergency situations.

The only way to improve this, would be to increase the terrestrial capabilities....and the satellite communications.
And if you haven't noticed...these planes are being lost in areas where there aren't as much investment or organization as Europe, Japan or the US.

While satellite telecommunications specialize in very remote areas such as middle of Sudan, tundras of Canada...and mountains of Afghanistan,
once you get out over the oceans, 75% of the world's area...it starts getting more challenging.
You got to have a satellite up there, maintained.
You got to have a satellite telecomm company with some capability and efficiency
You got to have a transport company (airline) invest into getting good equipment and services.
You got to have a government that consistently supports the infrastructure and maintenance.
Everything counts.

Any slack...shit happens.
Even in the best of the post-industrial nations...

I've seen what happens in an US firm...it ain't pretty...it isn't Hollywood. ("business" happens, things aren't always the most efficient or competent)
And as with any human endeavor...holes occur. (ask the US Secret Service...)

And because of the world's size and weather's dynamic...even the best may not be able to get everything every moment. (even in 2014)
You just have to do reviews...improve protocols...improve capabilities.

The hard part, people's lives and well-being count on all this.
BUT...it keeps getting better.
Bit by bit...that's the good part.

 

I don't have any Secret Service connections...I was noting their own recent holes in their efforts

Maybe they need a transponder to tell people where they are and a black box to say what they've done.

I was just providing some insight into the industry that keeps track of these planes.
What's important is about the loss of these people...and how to improve it to prevent it from happening again.
That not only takes better tech...and more infrastructure,
but more diligence by the people running it and the governments supporting it. (EVERY nation)

This is what I mean...
Pilot’s Final Request Was Met by Two-Minute Radio Silence

2 minutes is forever in an emergency situation...
Someone was probably taking a piss.

Sad that it takes some death and tragedy to get the powers that be to do it right.
(and make sure businesses to it too...)

 

Depends on the environment and dynamic...what you'd think would be true often isn't.
Towers in the US and most post-industrial nations tend to be better staffed...but it's not guaranteed.
You'd be surprised what goes on...on a day to day basis...much less moment by moment.

That's why I used the Secret Service and their current lapses as an example.
The SS are well funded, with well trained individuals, with a mission to be monitoring at ALL times...YET, not once, but twice or more...there were lapses.
This happens quite a bit in 24/7/365 environs...where there's "supposed" be uptime 99.999% of the time.
Reality is ...not so.

Including on flights and watch-towers.
Long hours, bad mgmt, distractions, glitches in the systems...even just being "human" or even authorized down-time.
Many variables, many fluctuations...everything counts, moment by moment.

Now add in...the potential of a less than adequate system, infrastructure...perhaps going over seas, out of range...bad weather. Systems idealized, not weather-proofed or with backups
Every factor comes into play. (in a split second)
We humans may not account for something...even at our most alert and diligent.
Reality accounts for EVERYTHING...ALWAYS.

All it takes is one thing...bam, it's done.
That's why they have committees...to investigate.

This is why production environments, mission critical tasks are so risk adverse oft times.
But all it takes is one "business decision" where there's not enough resources...or something that disrupts attention. Something happens.
I know it's happen to me...I'm like "OH SHIT!!" (and yeah, this was at The Mint...after 20+ years of working)

Fortunately, I haven't had to deal with lives...yet. I only deal with computer systems and data...mostly
(that's why I couldn't be a doctor...I couldn't dealing with a "what if" scenarios after the fact...it would crush me, kudos to those that do...and care)

But these people deal with people with lives in their hands daily.
Sometimes they care, sometimes they don't...sometimes it's just "a job"...sometimes, they had to scratch an itch. Maybe all the folk were dealing with another urgency. Maybe there was a drop in bandwidth or a bug
Maybe, maybe, maybe...

Reality doesn't let up.
Who knows.
We'll see if the investigation shows the truth...maybe it won't. (for whatever reason)

It's amazing when management and everyone else shows up and says, "How could you let this happen??!!"
Conveniently forgetting the schedule they made, the budget cut they did, the process they didn't allow to be fixed...and so on.
It ain't magic.

 

Alas, Malaysia officially declares the search over.

MH370: Malaysia officially declares disappearance of plane an accident | World news | The Guardian