The mystery of flight MH370 – Professor Dohler

Being an expert in wireless communications, Sky News, Al Jazeera and BBC 5 Radio have called Mischa Dohler, Professor in Wireless Communications in the Department of Informatics at King’s College London and Board of Directors of Worldsensing, into their studies to shed light on the mysterious disappearance of the flight MH370. The full Al Jazeera interview is available here and the BBC Radio Morning Show interview here.

Professor Dohler explained the presence of the different communications systems on a plane, i.e. the voice communication, data communication, and transponders, and why some still worked whilst others didn’t. He explained the difference between primary and secondary radar, and how the plane could have disappeared off the radars. He also shed some light on the emerging search areas, which stem from the ping emitted to the satellite even hours after the plane failed to communicate with the ground. The functioning of the “black box”, i.e. the RF and acoustic signalling, was discussed. He demystified mobile communication systems and explained why mobiles are out of reach whilst on a plane, and why a phone could have rang even though not within reach of a cell tower. Finally, whilst more research and innovation is needed, he proposed some new methods of making planes universally reachable in the skies.

Our thoughts are with the families of those on board of this flight.