AirAsia Flight 8501 – Risky Environment and yet Another Example of Need for Deployable Recorders and Satellite Tracking Systems for Airliners
By Robert A. Clifford AirAsia Flight 8501 was cruising at high altitude in an area of the world that has a reputation not only for high accident rates (3 times that of North America), but also for severe thunderstorm activity at altitudes that can exceed the ceilings of any airliner. Air traffic control (ATC) voice recordings reportedly show the pilots had asked for diversion around a storm cell but ATC denied that request. Minutes later,…