When the next plane crash occurs, reports immediately begin to talk about the search for the black box of the plane. What is it and why is it needed? Black boxes - or flight recorders - are recording devices in a protective shell that is made of heavy-duty material. From the outside, the body can be a parallelepiped, a cylinder or a sphere. It is painted bright orange or red, which helps to detect it.
The date of creation of the first flight recorder - the “yabednik” (as it is called in flying circles) is considered to be 1939. This event took place in France. The recorder was a multi-channel oscilloscope, the body of which was similar to a box and had a black color, hence the name “black box”. Its function was to record speed, altitude and other basic flight parameters. Serial production of flight recorders began in 1947. Somewhat later, in the 1950s, voice conversations between pilots began to be recorded using magnetic tape. Later, the speech recorder was separated from the parametric recorder and placed in the cockpit. And the other one was placed at the tail of the plane. Since the cabin is subject to greater destruction than the tail of the aircraft, the voice recorder was later moved to the tail. Asbestos was used to protect the recorders. In Australia, it became mandatory to equip airplanes used for passenger transportation with black boxes in 1960. After some time, other countries followed this example. The flight recorder is now a mandatory device on board an aircraft. With its help, the cause of the disaster is established and all the circumstances of the tragedy are clarified. This further helps prevent further accidents.
Flight recorder device
Black boxes with their records provide invaluable assistance in investigating the causes of aircraft crashes. International standards Each aircraft is provided with two recorders. How does an airplane's black box work? To ensure the safety of information, it must have a durable design. Titanium or high-strength steel is used for its manufacture. Inside the case there is a layer of thermal insulation that protects the microcircuits from high temperatures that occur during a fire or explosion. How the black box of an airplane works (the diagram below shows this) is not difficult to figure out. 
In modern recorders, the information is stored in flash memory. In addition, the box contains printed circuits that are designed to process and compress incoming information. The design of black boxes is constantly being improved. Each recorder is periodically certified.
Modern recorders
They have gone through a long path of improvement and are very different from their ancestors. What is a black box on an airplane? It serves to collect various information. Black boxes record the following data:
- technical - engine speed, fuel and hydraulic pressure, temperature;
- navigation data - speed, altitude, roll, rudder deflection;
- crew actions - extending and retracting the landing gear, all actions to control the aircraft.
All modern airliners have two recorders. One serves to record conversations conducted by the crew and is called speech, the other records all flight parameters and is called parametric. All information is recorded on optical media, such as photographic film, or magnetic (magnetic tape and metal wire) media. Recently, flash memory has become increasingly used. With the transition to it, the recording system became more reliable, since moving parts disappeared. To increase the strength of the aircraft's black box, it was subjected to repeated modifications and tests. Recorders save data:
- up to 3,500 G effective overload;
- 0.5 hours when on fire;
- a month in water at a depth of 6 km;
- 5 minutes at static overloads of more than 2 tons.
Black boxes on an airplane are located in the rear fuselage. According to statistics, it is the one that is least damaged in accidents. Most often, the nose of the aircraft experiences the impact.
What does a black box look like on an airplane?
The appearance of the recorder can be described as follows: most often it has a round shape. This is done so that when the plane crashes there is as little damage as possible, since bodies of this shape are less susceptible to force. 
The black box is always painted in a bright color, this makes it possible to quickly notice it in search areas after a plane crash. In addition, recorders are equipped with special beacons that begin to work when they come into contact with water. When an aircraft crashes into water, an underwater acoustic beacon emits a signal for 30 days from a depth of up to six kilometers.
Types of flight recorders
As mentioned above, there are two recorders on board the aircraft: voice and parametric.
Voice recordings record not only all conversations of crew members and their negotiations with dispatchers, but also the sounds that are present in the cockpit and save them for the last two hours.
Parametric ones receive data from different sensors. They contain information ranging from course coordinates to engine speeds. The readings of each parameter are recorded once per second, and if they begin to change quickly, the recording frequency also increases. Recording is done in cycles, like car video recorders: old data is overwritten by new ones. The cycle duration is quite long and is up to 25 hours, which is enough for any flight.
Both types of aircraft black boxes can be combined into one device. Parametric devices record only the data that may be required when investigating an accident. All recordings on storage media are reliably protected. They can withstand temperatures from -60 to +55 degrees. The main protection is provided by the filler, which is located inside the case.
Operational recorder
Everything that happens on board is recorded by operational instruments that have no protection. Personnel on the ground read the information after each flight for control purposes. The data is decrypted and analyzed to determine whether the crew acted correctly during the flight. In addition, the data obtained helps to determine the depletion of the aircraft’s service life and carry out repair work in a timely manner. This leads to increased equipment reliability and flight safety.
How to decrypt a black box
The data contained in the black box of the crashed planes is not encrypted. To take them, a commission of experts is assembled, who simply read the information on it from the media and write it down in a report in a form convenient for reading and analysis. The procedure for collecting data does not present any difficulties. This can be done at any airport. There is no protection of information from outsiders. 
According to statistics, damage to recorders occurs quite often. Information can often be read by gluing together individual fragments of tape and restoring the surviving parts of the microcircuits. This process requires special laboratory conditions and takes a lot of time. The main purpose of recorders on board an aircraft is to obtain data to determine the causes of a disaster and prevent a recurrence. similar situations. The information from the black boxes is analyzed by the dispatcher, pilots, navigators and technical experts.
Prospects for the development of recorders
Every year, more stringent requirements are placed on black boxes. One of the nearest prospects is to record the external surface of the aircraft and its internal parts on video media. Scientists hope that this innovation will lead to a complete replacement of cockpit instruments with displays that will provide more reliable information when an accident occurs. Although it is possible to determine from the dial gauges what he recorded at the last moment before the accident.
In some cases, black boxes cannot be found after a disaster. This mainly happens when the plane falls into deep water. Therefore, in the future it is planned to install recorders that could eject during an accident and remain afloat. We are also exploring the possibility of transferring all data from the black box to servers located on the ground. In this case, there will be no need to search for a recorder. An intact device stops working when there is no power, and this can happen during an explosion. As long as there is power supply, the black box records data in any conditions. Therefore, in the future it is planned to make the recorders self-powered in order to save as much information as possible.
This is interesting
- To record data, the first black boxes used a steel tape that was housed in a durable casing. The recording was made using a cast iron tip. The amount of information was limited because the foil deteriorated and was only used once.
- Magnetic tapes have been used since 1965. At first, only sound was recorded on them, and then they began to be used to record data.
- Microcircuits became a carrier of information only in the nineties.
- Over 40 years, black boxes have been installed on almost 100,000 aircraft, each costing 10-20 thousand dollars.
- The service life of recorders has increased since the introduction of certification for them.
Conclusion
Thanks to technological progress, black boxes have become much lighter and more compact, and more reliable in operation. The recorder is not afraid of extreme temperatures and can remain in sea water for a significant period of time and be exposed to various extreme influences, preserving information without damage. 
Data taken from the plane's black box helps simulate the environment that preceded the accident and help find the cause of the disaster. Materials from investigations are used to work in training rooms, simulating real situations for pilot training.
What are airplane black boxes - device, description and interesting facts on the site.
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When a plane crash occurs, great hopes are placed on deciphering the “black box.” We will tell you what a “black box” is and why it is so important to “read” it.
Why and when was it invented?
Australia is considered the birthplace of the first “black box”. The credit for the invention is given to David Warren. In 1953, he worked on the team of the commission that investigated the causes of the crash of the first passenger jet airliner, Comet-2, and thought that it would be nice to have a device on board every aircraft that could record all the processes occurring during the flight.
Four years later the first flight recorder was made. David put it together with colleagues at the Aeronautics Laboratory in Melbourne. A year later, the head of the British Aircraft Registration Agency became interested in the device. He invited Warren to England, where, with the help of other specialists, the “black box” was improved. Two years later, after a plane crash that occurred in the state of Queensland, “black boxes” were ordered to be carried on all Australian ships and they began to spread around the world.
Why is the box called "black"
It's trite, but true - the box, of course, is not black. And not a box. Many have seen him in pictures. Usually it is either an orange ball or an orange cylinder. There are two versions as to why the device is still called “black”. According to one thing, the first “black boxes” really were black boxes, and they began to be painted in bright colors later; according to another, the box was called “black” because it was inaccessible to anyone except narrow specialists. Even ground crews could not touch the flight recorder.
What is it made of?
Traditionally, the shell of black boxes is made of titanium alloys or alloyed iron. In any case, it is a high-strength, heat-resistant material. Although, it must be said that the main safety of “black boxes” is ensured not even by the material from which they are made, but by their location. Usually - in the tail or fin of the aircraft.
What's inside?
The “stuffing” of the “black boxes” changed over time, but its essence remained the same. Inside the flight recorder there is a device that records changes occurring during the flight, technical parameters, and records conversations between pilots and air traffic controllers. In the first “black boxes” the parameters were written in ink on paper tape, there was no need to talk about quality, then it started rapid development, photographic film began to be used, then wire. Today, data is typically recorded on magnetic and solid-state drives.
What loads can it withstand?
Black boxes are designed with critical loads in mind. They can withstand 3400 g, and static pressure of 2 tons for 5 minutes, water pressure at depths of up to 6000 meters.
A special topic is testing the strength of recorders. Science magazine provides a list of tests that black boxes undergo before use. A sample recorder is fired from an air cannon, beaten, crushed, kept in fire at a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius, kept at low temperatures down to -70 degrees, immersed in salt water and process fluids (gasoline, kerosene, machine oils).
What do black boxes read?
Black boxes are constantly being improved. The first onboard readers recorded only five parameters (heading, altitude, speed, vertical acceleration, and time). They were recorded using a stylus on metal disposable foil. The last round of evolution of on-board readers dates back to 1990, when solid-state media began to be used for recording. Modern “black boxes” are capable of monitoring up to 256 parameters. NationalGeographic reports that latest models Recorders can monitor the movement of all parts of the wing and landing systems.
Why are they looking for so long?
All flight recorders are equipped with radio beacons, as well as acoustic systems for searching underwater, which are activated only in case of danger. However, we must admit that radio beacons are not the most reliable devices. If the “black box” ends up under rubble or at great depths, the signal is extinguished, which greatly complicates the search.
How to say this in English?
In English-language sources, a “black box” can be called differently: flight recorder, blackbox and flight data recorder.
Sinking or not?
Another question that is especially relevant today: do “black boxes” sink? Almost all models of flight recorders sink. Usually, buoyancy is not specified in their parameters, but the parameter of being in sea water at a certain depth is specified. Thus, for the “black box” Bars-2M, information must be stored when in sea water at a depth of 1000 meters for 30 days.
How many “black boxes” are there on an airplane?
The number of recorders may vary depending on different types airplanes. Typically this is an on-board storage device, which is used in everyday work, as well as a secure on-board storage device, which is the notorious “black box”. A separate unit contains a secure recorder of crew conversations and sounds in the cockpit. All technical parameters are recorded on the flight recorder relative to the time scale.
Are there any alternatives?
Still falling. It is logical to assume that “black boxes” are still not the most reliable devices in the world that can disrupt the sad statistics of plane crashes. Are there alternatives to them?
On at the moment There is no alternative to black boxes, but developments are constantly being made to improve recorders. In the near future, it is planned to transmit all flight recorder data in real time either to a satellite or to services at air bases.
In an interview with Newyorker, Steve Abdu, a Boeing 777 captain and partner at an aviation consulting firm, commented on the prospects for such changes: “Sending black box data in real time would require an expensive satellite communications, but you can send it at four to five minute intervals. Then this will reduce the price and increase the profitability of using the technology.” Every day the number of satellites in Earth's orbit increases, so storing flight data on a “remote” device seems to be the most likely alternative to long searches and painstaking decoding of data.
The “black box”, also known as the on-board storage device, is only one of the components of the emergency parameter recording system. It is an extensive system for collecting, processing and recording many flight data.
The first airborne one was created back in 1939 by two Frenchmen F. Housseno and P. Baudouin, but it was only a prototype of those used. In 1953, Australian D. Warren proposed new option similar device. After participating in the investigation, Warren realized that a device that recorded crew communications could greatly facilitate his task of finding the cause of the crash.
Warren's flight recorder used magnetic tape, was wrapped in asbestos, and was hidden in a steel case. In 1956 he presented his creation to the public, and already in 1960 all Australian passenger aircraft were equipped with them. Following this country, others made a similar decision.
Today, the “box” is an obligatory part of the control system. He accumulates various information: engine speed, fuel pressure, air temperature, speed, flight altitude, course and others. The actions of the crew are also recorded (retraction and release of the landing gear, degree of deflection of controls and other data).
Every modern airliner is equipped with two flight recorders. One of them records crew conversations (voice), the other records flight parameters (). Unlike its ancestor, the modern recorder records information on optical or flash media.
Many measures have been taken to create durable black boxes. Today's recorders are capable of withstanding an overload of three and a half thousand G, data preservation is guaranteed for half an hour when the box is engulfed in fire, for a month when immersed in water to a depth of six thousand meters, and for five minutes with static overloads of more than two tons. Despite the second name "black box", flight recorders are colored orange or red to make them easier to find.
The main task of the on-board storage device is to save information about the flight, which is especially relevant in case of plane crashes. Having discovered a “black box”, workers read the data and analyze it. After this, you can understand whether the crew committed prohibited actions or mistakes, or whether a technical breakdown occurred that caused the crash.
But flight recorders help the airline industry do more than just investigate crashes. After each flight, ground personnel study the data read from it, which allows them to monitor the technical condition of the aircraft and carry out the necessary work. In other words, the “black box” helps in the work to improve the reliability of air travel and its safety.
In the aviation industry, unusual situations are inevitable. When an airliner makes an emergency landing, a special device records what is happening on board. As readers have guessed, we will talk about the question of what a black box is on an airplane, what the device is used for, and how this mechanism works.
Let's start with the terminology and history course. A black box is a recording device that every second records crew conversations, heading, altitude and flight speed, and records the readings of the airliner’s instruments. Aviators call this technique a “flight recorder.” However, the name “black box” has stuck among the people, since similar units of the first generation were placed in a sealed dark container.
The emergence of these necessary mechanisms was determined by the situation with periodic aircraft crashes. To find out the causes of the accidents, scientists set out to develop a device that would shed light on the circumstances of the fall. The first such unit appeared in 1939 in France. Since the device recorded flight parameters on photographic film, the mechanism was placed in a black casing to protect the information from exposure.
The recording principle of the device was as follows: a ray of light was refracted on a mirror surface and left an imprint on the film. At the same time, the device recorded changes in altitude, speed and heading, but did not record the pilots’ conversations.
In 1953, the invention was modernized by Australian David Warren. The scientist combined the ability to record readings from aircraft systems and pilot conversations. The designer used magnetic tape in the device, and the mechanism body was made of asbestos. Then, modernizing the invention, aviators replaced the casing material with impact-resistant steel.
There is another version of the origin of the term “black box”. Since it is impossible to see the equipment information from the moment the device is installed on board until the accident, the mechanism was given this unofficial name. The flight recorder changes periodically - the developers improve the strength indicators and contents of the equipment. Today, designers use durable titanium for protective housing and flash media for recording.
Appointment and development of the registrar
Let's take a closer look at the evolution of this system and find out what a black box looks like on an airplane, what color the casing is made of, and determine the shape of the mechanism. Prototypes of recorders involved writing in ink on paper with periodic sheet changes. The paper replacement was adjusted using a timer.
Later, engineers developed equipment that recorded data on film, which increased the reliability of information security. Oscilloscopes with photographic film gave way to tape recorders that recorded information on steel wire, and then on magnetic tape. Modern devices are equipped with microcircuits, similar to a trivial computer.
Casing structure
Designers pay special attention to the strength parameters of the equipment casing. Current standards require the shell, which protects the delicate mechanism, to be made from impact-resistant materials that can withstand enormous pressure. Here, both the shape and color of the casing play a role - after all, a bright shade makes it easier to find the device.
The most advantageous shape, which does not deform under a mechanical impact of 3,000 g, is a hollow ball or cylinder with spherical ends. This is exactly what modern recorders look like. As for color, here the developers preferred to paint it in bright red or orange tones.
This device can withstand a shock comparable to the blast wave of an atomic bomb. In addition, the device remains undamaged during half an hour of intense fire and immersion under water to a depth of six kilometers for a month.
As you can see, the body parameters of such a device amaze with its resistance to external mechanical influences and negative phenomena. This meticulous approach to design is the result of half a century of modernization of the device in order to improve its strength characteristics. However, such a reliable casing is the shell of the main mechanism, the structure of which we will talk about below.
Recorder design
It's time to find out how the black box of an airplane works from the inside. Today in aviation they use devices of two last generations: Somewhat outdated tape recorders and modern flash drives. The SSD card is secured to a shock-absorbing mechanism to prevent damage to the electronics when the plane crashes or explodes.
Using a similar scheme, engineers install a tape recorder. In addition, the inside of the mechanism is equipped with a radio beacon. This device allows you to reduce the time it takes to search for a device after an accident. The beacons are powered by a battery, which starts only at the moment of impact. Until this time, the batteries accumulate energy in order to accumulate it later.
In addition, the equipment will show the parameters of fuel consumption and remaining fuel, air pressure, power plant speed, steering wheel stroke, and barometric flight altitude. Of course, the equipment records all conversations in the cockpit. Thanks to such detailed information, aviation experts determine the causes of accidents with the highest accuracy - because it becomes clear what was seen.
Location of equipment on board
The aviators also devoted a lot of time to the location of the device’s fixation on the aircraft. Initially, the aircraft contained two recorders - one model was located in the cockpit, and the second copy was recorded in the tail compartment. The devices were duplicated to increase the chances of preserving records during large-scale crashes.
Scheme of installation of recorders on board
However, installing equipment in the bow of an aircraft is not practiced today. After all, in case of accidents, the main impact usually falls on the bow of the side. Therefore, modern recorders are installed in the tail sectors of the aircraft, securely securing the devices. Moreover, standardization requires the inscription “Flight Recorder. Don’t open”, which is translated into Russian as: “flight recorder, do not open.”
About information recording parameters
On airplanes today they use either recorders of a combined design, or one type of device FDR And CVR . The first group of equipment records parametric information, and the second - conversations. Moreover, modern recorders capture many parameters that are used for decoding and help the pilot control the aircraft.
The black box records about 2,000 flight parameters and voice archives of conversations, so the transcript of the recorder explains the causes of the accident
As for the standards applied in aviation, the required minimum for a recorder is to record 88 flight characteristics and flight system indicators. If we consider the equipment that records speech indicators, here the equipment records what is happening in the cargo compartment and passenger sector, crew conversations, noise in technical and auxiliary units.
Normal recording is carried out with an information recording interval of 3–4 times per second. If there is a sudden change in current indicators, registration increases the speed and frequency of recording. This helps transcribers not miss the right moment.
Please note that flight information is written based on old information. Update data on modern systems occurs every 2–24 hours. Moreover, a mandatory time reference was used here to make the task easier for the people who decipher the recordings. Moreover, the encryption system here is extremely simple in order to get a real picture of what is happening on board faster.
Damaged recorders are being restored for further decoding.
In situations where the damage during a disaster is great, the contents of the equipment can even be restored. The remains of magnetic tapes are combined and processed in a special substance, and motherboards solder electronic equipment. True, such cases require more time to study the information and highly qualified craftsmen who are engaged in restoration.
Prospects for improving technology
Even taking into account such a wide range of recorded flight characteristics, modern recorders can hardly be called perfect instruments. The development of new technologies in this area does not stop. Scientists strive to improve the quality and accuracy of information transmission, while also taking care of the safety of information. Among the designers' tasks is the creation of a device that records what is happening inside the aircraft and.
Scientists plan to create a model that will be able to transmit information to a stationary medium in real time
Another area of development is the modernization of the aircraft control panel with the replacement of arrows with modern electronic displays. In addition, design ideas include the possibility of ejection of recording equipment after an accident. Moreover, scientists are puzzled by the question that will help the mechanism to correctly and accurately capture the readings at the second of the crash.
The latest ideas in this area are synchronization of the transmission of equipment indicators in real time. They plan to use satellite communications and powerful stationary servers that will be able to record information synchronously with what is happening on board. In this case, there will be no need to search for registrars.
As you can see, humanity has already made a step forward in the aviation industry. However, incredible prospects are opening up here - aircraft, technologies are improving, and progress and ease of operating the aircraft are increasing. As for finding out the causes of the disaster, today in 98% of cases the recorders show the true reasons for the fall of the board. And you will be able to find out about the safest airliner.
A black box is a device that records what is happening on board, including pilot conversations and control sensor readings 
David Warren's invention became the prototype of the modern flight recorder 
On-board recorder recording information on magnetic tape 
Flight recorders are painted in bright shades of red and orange. 
Design of a modern on-board recorder
The phrase “black box” is heard on television in two cases: when the program “What? Where? When?" and when a plane crash occurs somewhere. The paradox is that if in a TV show a black box is really a black box, then on an airplane it is not a box and it is not black.
The flight recorder - that's what the device is actually called - is usually made red or orange, and the shape is spherical or cylindrical. The explanation is very simple: the rounded shape better withstands external influences that are inevitable when an airplane crashes, and the bright color makes searching easier. Let's figure out how the black box of an airplane works, as well as how the information is decrypted.
What's in the box?
1. The recorder itself is, in general, a simple device: it is an array of flash memory chips and a controller and is fundamentally not much different from the SSD drive in your laptop. True, flash memory is used in recorders relatively recently, and there are now many aircraft in the air equipped with older models that use magnetic recording - on tape, as in tape recorders, or on wire, as in the very first tape recorders: wire is stronger than tape, and therefore more reliable. In any case, a black box should be available on any aircraft. Whether it is a passenger or cargo aircraft designed for air transportation of containers that can be purchased.
2. The main thing is that all this filling should be properly protected: the completely sealed case is made of titanium or high-strength steel, inside there is a thick layer of thermal insulation and damping materials.
There is a special FAA standard TSO C123b/C124b, which modern recorders comply with: data must remain intact at overloads of 3400G for 6.5 ms (fall from any height), full fire coverage for 30 minutes (fire from fuel ignition in an aircraft collision with the ground) and being at a depth of 6 km for a month (if an airplane falls into water anywhere in the World Ocean, except for depressions, the probability of falling into which is statistically small).
3. By the way, regarding falling into water: recorders are equipped with ultrasonic beacons that turn on upon contact with water. The lighthouse emits a signal at a frequency of 37,500 Hz, and, having found this signal, the recorder can easily be found at the bottom, from where it is retrieved by divers or remotely controlled robots for underwater work. It is also not difficult to find a recorder on the ground: having discovered the wreckage of an airplane and knowing the locations of the recorders, it is enough, in fact, just to look around.
4. The case must have the inscription “Flight Recorder. Don't open" on English. There is often the same inscription in French; There may be inscriptions in other languages.
Where are the boxes located?
6. On an airplane, they are usually located in the rear part of the fuselage, which is statistically smaller and least likely to be damaged in accidents, since the front part usually takes the impact. There are several recorders on board - it’s such a custom in aviation that all systems are backed up: the likelihood that none of them can be detected, and the data on those detected will be corrupted, is minimal.
7. At the same time, recorders also differ in the data recorded in them.
Emergency recorders, which are sought after after disasters, are parametric (FDR) and voice (CVR).
The voice recorder saves, in addition to conversations between crews and dispatchers, also surrounding sounds (4 channels in total, recording duration - the last 2 hours), and parametric ones record information from various sensors- starting from coordinates, course, speeds and pitch and ending with the revolutions of each engine. Each of the parameters is recorded several times per second, and when rapid change the recording frequency increases. Recording is carried out cyclically, as in car video recorders: new data overwrites the oldest. At the same time, the cycle duration is 17-25 hours, that is, it is guaranteed to be enough for any flight.
Voice and parametric recorders can be combined into one, but in any case the recordings are precisely time-bound. Meanwhile, parametric recorders do not record all flight parameters (although now there are at least 88 of them, and more recently, before 2002, there were only 29), but only those that can be useful in investigating disasters. Full “logs” (2,000 parameters) of what is happening on board are recorded by operational recorders: their data is used to analyze the actions of pilots, repair and maintenance of the aircraft, etc. - they have no protection, and after a disaster, data from them can no longer be obtained.
The need to decrypt data from black boxes is as much a myth as the idea that the boxes are black.
8. The fact is that the data is not encrypted in any way, and the word “decryption” is used here in the same meaning as journalists deciphering a recording of an interview. The journalist listens to the voice recorder and writes the text, and a commission of experts reads the data from the media, processes it and writes it down in a form convenient for analysis and perception. That is, there is no encryption: the data can be read at any airport, there is no protection of data from prying eyes. And since black boxes are designed to analyze the causes of plane crashes in order to reduce the number of accidents in the future, there is no special protection against data modification. In the end, if the true causes of the disaster need to be kept silent or distorted for political or some other reasons, then one can always claim that the recorders were severely damaged and that it was impossible to read all the data.
How to decrypt a black box?
True, in case of damage (and they are not so rare - about a third of all disasters), the data can still be restored - and the fragments of the tape are glued together, and also treated with a special compound, and the contacts of the surviving microcircuits are soldered in order to connect them to the reader: the process is complex, it takes place in special laboratories and may take longer.
Why "black box"?
9. Why are flight recorders called “black boxes”? There are several versions. For example, the name could come from the Second World War, when the first electronic modules began to be installed on military aircraft: they really looked like black boxes. Or, for example, the first recorders, even before the war, used photographic film for recording, so they should not have allowed light to pass through. However, we cannot exclude the influence of “What? Where? When?”: a black box in everyday life is a device whose operating principle (what is in the black box) does not matter, only the result obtained is important. Recorders have been installed en masse on civil aircraft since the early 1960s.
10. Flight recorders have room for improvement. According to forecasts, the most obvious and immediate prospect is recording video from different points visibility inside and outside the aircraft. Some experts claim that this will help, among other advantages, to solve the problem of switching from dial gauges in the cockpit to displays: they say that in an accident, old instruments “freeze” at the last readings, but displays do not. However, we should not forget that pointer instruments are still used today in addition to displays in case of failure of the latter.
11. The prospects of installing shootable floating recorders are also being considered: special sensors will record the collision of an aircraft with an obstacle, and at that moment the recorder will “eject” almost with a parachute - the principle is approximately the same as that of airbags in a car. In addition, in the future, aircraft will be able to broadcast all data recorded by black boxes in real time to remote servers- then you won’t need to search for and decode the recorders.
