Originally Posted by CDSmith

This event, this tragedy if you will, should at the very least serve notice that the black box these flights all carry badly needs a technology upgrade. Some sort of transponder upgrade would be in order so there can never again be this kind of "mystery" or disappearance.

Certainly the black box could be made so that in the event of a crash the onboard computer tells it to "make a call" using existing satellites in orbit, couldn't it?

Also, on a side note, I heard in one news report that it was "unknown at this time if the couple on board had their two kids with them". That right there if true is utterly shameful in this day and age. The airline flight manifest should have known EXACTLY who was on that flight and who wasn't, instantly. It should have been as easy as accessing a file. When I heard that reporter and others saying that I was shocked. How the hell could they not know something like that?