POPULAR MECHANICS: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: How Can an Airliner Just Disappear? “A system that would use satellites to beam an airliner’s position and other vital information is not only possible—it’s already being used on some planes. In fact, on long-haul routes that fly over the North Pole or the Pacific Ocean, where radar coverage can be iffy, the latest models from Boeing and Airbus are using data link communications to transmit GPS coordinates and status updates. Even if the bandwidth wouldn’t allow large amounts of information, such as those contained in the black boxes, it could be vital to tracking down the aircraft itself.” But not this one.