Bellingcat Unveils Turnstone, a New Open-Source Tool for Advanced Flight Data Analysis

Bellingcat, a prominent open-source investigative journalism group, has launched Turnstone, a new tool designed to simplify the visualization and analysis of historical flight data. This innovative platform aims to assist researchers in identifying unusual patterns and trends amidst the approximately 100,000 daily flights globally, a task often challenging with existing flight tracking services. Turnstone aggregates Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) data, which includes crucial information like aircraft identity, type, position, speed, and altitude, making it more accessible for in-depth investigations.

Unlike conventional flight tracking websites that typically display historical data for individual flights or specific timeframes, Turnstone allows users to filter by various parameters such as aircraft type or geographic region. A key feature is its ability to search for flights across two distinct areas of interest simultaneously, providing enhanced context for understanding aircraft behavior over time. This capability is particularly valuable for open-source investigators seeking to uncover connections or anomalies that might otherwise go unnoticed.

The tool primarily utilizes ADS-B data, which most aircraft transmit in compliance with global aviation regulations, though military aircraft may not always broadcast this information. Bellingcat offers the source code for Turnstone on GitHub, enabling self-hosting, and provides selective web-based access to journalists and academics, prioritizing those whose research aligns with the organization's investigative goals. This new resource promises to significantly bolster the capabilities of open-source intelligence by offering a more comprehensive and nuanced approach to flight data analysis.