Global Tracking Initiatives

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, en-route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing China, on 8 March 2014, triggered a global search that is still on-going. Prior to this Air France flight 477 from Brazil to France was lost in the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft’s flight data recorders were only recovered after a two year search.

Shortly after the Malaysia Airlines event, a special Multidisciplinary Meeting on Global Flight Tracking (MMGFT) was convened at the ICAO Headquarters in Montréal, Canada, to propose recommendations for future actions. One of the main decisions taken was the need for operators to pursue global tracking of airline flights at a faster pace.

The Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) concept of operations was initiated at this meeting. The GADSS concept describes in an evolutionary manner the execution of actions in the short, medium and long terms with each action resulting in benefits. The first steps in implementing the GADSS can be taken in the short term by implementing the Normal Aircraft Tracking solutions as proposed by the Industry led Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) for commercial air transport and by addressing the areas of improvement identified in GADSS Document.

During the second High-Level Safety Conference (HLSC) in February 2015, the delegates supported the GADSS concepts of operations and called upon ICAO to lead the conduct of a Normal Aircraft Tracking Implementation Initiative (NATII) using existing technologies. A NATII Steering Committee, with global participation, was formed and the Asia Pacific Region was selected as a representative area of operations for the initiative.