ICAO proposes aircraft tracking every 15 minutes

(ECNS) - Member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have proposed to endorse a new standard that will see commercial aircraft tracked every 15 minutes.

The move comes after the deadliest year in civil aviation in nearly a decade.

The flight tracking system called the Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System, or GADSS, requires aircraft to report their locations at least once every 15 minutes, or every one minute during an emergency or potential emergency.

The system will help narrow the search and rescue area for planes that send distress signals, said Anthony Philbin, spokesman for the United Nations agency that governs civil aviation.

Currently, commercial flights are tracked after passing certain areas and only report flight information every 30 minutes or more, according to Bill Palmer, an A-330 captain and author of "Understanding Air France 447."

The new system can improve the possibility of finding lost planes, the author said.

It's believed that the system would have helped in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which went down on March 17, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The ICAO's member states have also agreed to better share up-to-date information about the risks of flying in conflict zones.