Originally Posted by
RKrupski
These Transponders are horribly designed, first of all it should be setup so when a Transponder is turned off from the flight deck that a unique signal is created to indicate a manual shutoff to differentiate it from other ways the Transponder could be turned off, like a loss of power.
Secondly the transponder should have a battery backup just for the Transponder, in case there is some kind of power failure, it can operate long enough to signal to the ground that power was lost.
There is no reason why these features should not be implemented in this day and age.
Before calling something horribly designed you should prob learn more about it. The transponder does have backup power. The only feasible way that it could lose power is the whole electrical system is compromised. But on a fly by wire plane like the 777 the flight controls would be uncontrollable at this point.
The fact is as long as cockpit security is kept. As it always should be since those doors are all bullet proof now. The only people who can turn a transponder off are the pilots. Not sure how much more secure you can get.