Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek has called on Asean member states to back Malaysia's push for the implementation of a global real-time flight tracking.

He said this during a meeting between the Asean Telecommunication and IT Ministers (TELMIN) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) which was held here as part of the 14th Asean TELMIN and Related Meetings.

"I’ve said this before, but I will say it again; that today’s technology should be used for transmitting flight data from aircraft, including from the black box, in real-time.

"With advancements in ICT today, it should be possible to retrieve and analyse this data without necessarily having to wait for the black box to be located first," he said.

Shabery said data from aircraft, including from the black box, could be continuously transmitted and stored in data centres on ground. 

"Even the man in the street will acknowledge that communication technologies have evolved drastically in the past five years. But in this context, little has changed to the story of the black box since the 60s," the minister said.

Shabery noted that the recent tragedy of AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 had reinforced the need for real-time monitoring of flight data.

"Thankfully, the AirAsia Indonesia black boxes have been found, but it took a few weeks and a tremendous amount of resources," he said.

Proposal gained traction

The call by Malaysia has garnered momentum within the international community since Shabery first raised this during the World Telecommunication Development Conference 2014 in Dubai three weeks after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on March 8, 2014.

This has gained traction and support in Asia Pacific and other parts of the world leading to this agenda being pushed to the global stage.

This culminated in a resolution being passed at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014 in Busan last October on Global Flight Tracking for Civil Aviation.

The resolution instructs, among others, the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2015 to include in its agenda, as a matter of urgency, the consideration of global flight tracking, if appropriate, and consistent with ITU practices.

"Malaysia thanks the Asean member states for their support thus far, and hopes that they will join us again in pushing this further at the WRC 2015. We believe that ICT can continue to make a difference in saving lives," Shabery concluded.

The Malaysian delegation at Asean TELMIN included Communications and Multimedia Ministry secretary-general Dr Sharifah Zarah Syed Ahmad, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Dr Halim Shafie as well as senior officials from the ministry and MCMC.

- Bernama