WASHINGTON — Responding to recent incidents in which airliners vanished, U.S. accident investigators recommended Thursday that all passenger planes making long flights over water carry improved technology that will allow them to be found more readily in the event of a crash.
Prompted in part by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and its 239 passengers and crew in March, the National Transportation Safety Board said one way that could be accomplished is with tamper-resistant transmitters that send a plane’s location minute by minute via satellite.
It also asked that the government require that planes carry low-frequency underwater beacons whose signals are more easily detected by search vessels. And it wants them to have longer-lasting batteries that can function for at least 90 days after a crash, instead of the 30 days currently required.
The board also asked the government to require that planes be equipped with cockpit video recorders.
