Deal reached on satellite tracking of airliners

GENEVA — A deal reached at a United Nations meeting on Wednesday opens the way for satellite tracking of airliners, a major breakthrough motivated by the mystery disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner last year.

The agreement allows nations to set aside radio frequencies so that airplanes can be tracked by satellite — not just from the ground.

Under current radar-based systems, the movement of planes is monitored by landbased systems, leaving about 70 per cent of the world’s surface uncovered, according to the International Telecommunications Union, the UN communications agency.

Modern planes that can send what are known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, signals to the ground are now on track to send signals to satellites, too — with implementation expected by 2017.

The accord to set aside the 1087.7-1092.3 MHz radio frequency for satellite tracking of planes came at the World Radiocommunication Conference, an international gathering organized every four years by the ITU. International civil aviation regulator ICAO has pushed for satellite tracking of aircraft, as long as current safety measures aren’t jeopardized.

The March 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people on board exposed weaknesses in air-navigation systems. Debris from the Boeing 777 was found in the Indian Ocean in July.