Tisha_AH writes "For the past fifty years the technology behind
aircraft flight data recorders has remained stagnant. Some of
the advances of cloud computing, mesh radio networks, real-time
position reporting and satellite communications are held back by
a combination of aircraft manufacturers, pilots unions and the
slow gears of government bureaucracy. Many recent aircraft loss
incidents remain unexplained, with black boxes lost on the
bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, buried under the wreckage of the
World Trade Centers or with critical information suppressed by
government secrecy or aircraft manufacturers. Many devices still
rely upon tape recorders for voice and data that only record a
very small sampling of aircraft dynamics, flight and engine
systems or crew behaviors. Technologically simple solutions like
battery backup, continual telemetry feeds by satellite and
hundreds of I/O points, monitoring many systems should be within
easy reach. Pilot unions have objected to the collection and
sharing of detailed