MAS370 MH370 DO254 and Cell Data

For the connected, in the instant knowledge, information world we live in, the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is most humbling. Let us be reminded as we look for details, and theorize… that someone’s Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter, Friend are missing. Just terrible but the Miller’s continue to pray and hope for that miracle.

What have we learned from a technology standpoint? Me, being a RADAR/EW fella, it amazes me on how many holes we have in the air space as we get further out from US soil. Check out NEADS (Northeast Air Defense Sector), which is right down the road from me. Simply amazing, but it is not possible for all places to have such resources. We have learned about transponders and other fabulous technologies. Engines that keep a pulse to their designers, and the list goes on. It is obvious the plane was not destroyed mid-flight as we know hardware does not keep pinging without power.

If one was to look at the DO254 standard; DESIGN ASSURANCE GUIDANCE FOR AIRBORNE ELECTRONIC HARDWARE, to design in hardware into an aircraft is anything but trivial nor for the faint in heart. Most designers prove their requirements work, the DO254 standard in a nut shell requires one to prove what is not supposed to work. Being an FPGA guru, this is possible but takes stellar IP and a dedicated team. Check out logicircuit.com for an excellent overview of these standards and IP. This basically means every design and bit permutation is tracked and covered to prove that the design could not cause a safety critical issue.

It does look more and more that unfortunately we do not have the world’s best people. Trust is a funny thing, every day we place our lives in the hands of others. I experienced that this week, one with my wife driving me to the airport and then with my six flights this week. You know what I was thinking about? I wonder about the character of these pilots? My co passengers? I looked them over, couldn’t help it.

With the simple flick of a switch the 5th largest passenger Jet in the world, the Boeing 777 went into stealth mode… Humbling.

Technology is revealed in the search for the airplane, the data analysis, the tracking algorithms, the possibilities. I believe it is time to pull the cell phone data from all the pilots and passengers to see if there phones were not in flight mode and correlate that data with what we know. As you know, you can get coverage in spots and there is a record of pings when the cell phone trying to get service… Perhaps some texts got thru. It would be great if some of the phones were on and this data leads to a safe recovery of the people. That would be fantastic. Search the cell data. The answer may be in there.

As you know, after this is over we can expect the over correction, the new rules, the new technology etc. Technology can track us, heal us, help us but it will never give integrity, trust, respect, virtue and the like. Electronics and laws can hold us accountable but the rest is up to each one of us. Still pulling for the miracle.