Aviation watchdog wants black box life extended

A visitor takes pictures of a boy in front of placards and a banner carrying messages for the passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur on March 19, 2014. Europe's aviation safety watchdog on Tuesday called for the life of black box flight recorders to last three times as long AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN 

By AFP
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Europe's aviation safety watchdog on Tuesday called for the life of black box flight recorders to last three times as long, as the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane yields no results.

In a statement, the European Aviation Safety Agency urged "the extension of the transmission time of underwater locating devices (ULD) fitted on flight recorders from 30 days to 90 days".

The black box refers to the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder on planes, which are crucial in determining what triggered a plane crash but can be very difficult to locate, as has been the case with the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared at sea on March 8 carrying 239 people.

The agency also suggested that all large planes flying over oceans be equipped with a new type of ULD with a longer locating range.

"The tragic flight of Malaysia Airlines MH370 demonstrates that safety can never be taken for granted," said Patrick Ky, EASA's director