Not-So-Black Box?
French accident investigators have located wreckage indicating the general location where Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 2, taking the lives of the 228 people aboard. As they sift through the debris, French officials expressed pessimism at the prospect of recovering the infamous “black boxes” miles below on the ocean floor. This begs the question: what exactly is a black box?
In aviation parlance, a black box refers to either the flight data recorder (FDR) or the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), equipment designed to capture critical flight information. Today’s FDRs record roughly 24 hours of data in a continuous loop covering nearly 100 significant flight parameters, including engine information. The CVR is a glorified tape recorder that records cockpit conversations. Modern CVRs record a continuous loop of up to 2 hours of conversation.
Both flight recorders typically are located in the aircraft’s tail section, where they are more likely to survive a crash. Additionally, the units are “crash protected” in that they are built to survive high-speed impact, intense heat, deep-sea pressure and water infiltration. To aid in recovery, today’s recorders emit a battery-powered beacon that typically can last up to 30 days. Oh, and contrary to popular reference, neither box is black; most often the recorders are painted bright orange for high visibility in wreckage.
As searchers struggle to locate the Air France flight recorders on the ocean floor, the call for upgrades to flight recorders will intensify. In the not-too-distant future, FDRs and CVRs will be designed to eject from aircrafts following an accident (similar to the deployment of an airbag), they will float, and the units almost certainly will incorporate GPS technology. In addition, CVRs very soon may include cockpit image recorders that would consist of a camera and microphone located in the cockpit. These systems would be designed to continuously record cockpit instrumentation, the outside viewing area, engine sounds, radio communications, and ambient cockpit sounds. 1
Read on:
NYTimes.com (Some Captivating Last Minute Cockpit Conversations)
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