New Delhi: India’s civil aviation regulator has instructed airlines to track all aircraft in real time. The new decision by the regulator is in view of the the disappearance of Beijing bound Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. The new instruction is applicable to both passenger and cargo planes.

As per the belief of officials, the flight MH370 ended in the ocean region of western Australia, but could not found any trace of the plane, including the black box flight recorders which could reveal reasons why the plane diverted so far off course.

The regulator has ordered Indian carriers to track aircraft in real time using on-board Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) or Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B).DGCA also said airlines should devise a procedure to track aircraft flying over areas not covered by ACARS or ADS-B.

It ordered flight crews report aircraft coordinates, speed and altitude every 15 minutes while flying over such areas.

The regulator said that the airlines should monitor faults and warning messages of ACARS and that flight crews must immediately report any issue with ACARS or ADS-B to ground stations using a voice or data link. According to DGCA, it would review implementation of the directives during surveillance inspections.

Video on real time aircraft tracking system