[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I'm personally a little surprised that nobody tracks these planes on radar over the atlantic?? Or is that the same as satellite? Sorry I honestly don't know the answer to that question. But anyways, it seems a little weird that they just leave them on their own over the Atlantic and then when they get within a certain distance to land they track them again?

That's exactly how it works.
My sister is an Air Traffic Controller, and when flights are over the Atlantic, they aren't tracked by anyone, unless the airlines do it themselves via satellite, which is really expensive.

That's why Gander Newfoundland is the most important navigational point on the East Coast, it's the first radar station that flights from Europe start to get tracked from.