Another Airliner Missing

Radar is fallible. It was NEVER made to track planes! It started out as a defense to merely say planes were a certain distance away. NOW, at best, they may track transponders within a limited area to handle traffic. If a plane has no transponder, they may have a hard time associating it with a flight. They also don't currently care where it came from, or where it is going to. It would be silly to ask them to follow all traffic in an area, that they have no responsibility for, simply to track it. The planes COULD have a special box communicate via satellite. They ALREADY have the communication in commercial aircraft, from what I understand, to communicate everywhere. They used to allow use by passengers, though it was expensive.

ALSO, we are PAST the 1970s! They could EVEN have a coded flightplan setup, by the airline at the airport, to trigger an update with the manufacturer if the plane goes more than say 1000 miles off course(Should allow for major course changes), or lands at a place more than 3 miles from where it should land(3 miles should allow for most airports, and it would be within the ATC tower). ALSO, we are PAST 2010, so it could be done for less than $200 a plane! Possibly even far less, since airplanes SHOULD have a lot of the hardware installed ALREADY! It is cheap, and likely required for autopilot and instrument landings. Things have gotten THAT cheap! But HEY, in the 1970s, they complicated systems a LOT to save $1.50USD in manufacturing costs, for a $2000USD computer! I guess $200 added to a $78,300,000USD(The lowest cost Boeing sells the 737 for now! Boeing: Jet Prices ) plane is considered just as meaningful. But intelligent warn as needed control, like I described, would limit any communication costs, and any bandwidth needs.

They could EVEN have a validation check built in so ATC can send a signal, before takeoff, and the box can send back the coordinates. If they don't match, or it fails, the ATC could stop the plane. If the plane ignores them, the military could be informed, and they would FORCE the plane down. That last part is actually a government/FAA rule created after 9/11. And the FAA requires ALL pilots within the US to comply with ATC.

Steve

Here's the head scratcher there Steve.
The FDA and U.S.D.A. (and monsanto) say that G.E. seeds are not substantially different from regular seeds. Monsanto is able to get patents for their seed because they claim (and the Patent Office agrees) that they are substantially different from regular seeds.