Design and Research on the Architecture of Autonomous Distress Tracking and Emergency Locator Transmitter System for Civil Aircraft

The MH370 incident has prompted the global civil aviation community to focus on aircraft tracking and monitoring. International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) has adopted the operational concept of the Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS), which includes high-level requirements, main characteristics, system specifications, and the improvement in the current operating environment. The ADT function uses onboard systems to broadcast information, which enables the export of aircraft positions (latitude, longitude, and time). When the aircraft is in distress, the aircraft position information will be sent at least once every minute, and the flight crew does not need to take action. When an event occurs on the aircraft that could lead to an accident if the aircraft's condition is not corrected, the aircraft is in a state of distress. This article proposes a solution to address the aircraft tracking problem that meets the requirements of GADSS for the current emergency positioning and launch system.