European regulators seek tighter flight data recorder rules

[BRUSSELS] More than three months after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, regulators in Europe are pressing for new ways that would make it impossible to disable safety and communications systems on commercial airliners.

Officials from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the European Commission have scheduled a meeting for July 8 with experts from the 28 member states of the European Union to discuss new requirements aimed at ensuring the continuous transmission of location data for all aircraft - regardless of their country of manufacture or registration - throughout the flight.

"It should not be a matter of discretion for somebody to switch it off," Siim Kallas, a vice-president of the European Commission in charge of transport, said in a recent interview. "If there is even a suspicion that the ability to switch off thes…