To investigate the crash of Air France flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, there is a search for the aircraft's "black box" that seems akin to finding a needle in a haystack; the box is believed to be on the sea floor, perhaps 20,000 feet under water. Why not equip black boxes with an airbag-type of floatation device that, for example, would deploy to inflate a balloon in the event that sensors detect that the box is immersed in water? Then, searchers would be looking for the floating balloon (which could be a fluorescent color, for example) that suspends the box, instead of a small box on the seabed. It would add expense, to be sure, but compare to the cost of a multi-week vessel and submarine search, along with the value the recovered data could provide in improving future aircraft design and/or crew training.
I agree
No opinion
I disagree
Add your comment
The black box probably doesn't break free of the aircraft in most cases. This would render an air bag useless.
And if it did break free, you may never find the plane even if you found your floating box. The data recorders already have a 'pinger' that can be heard by sonar arrays in most conditions. Unfortunately the one in South America didn't ping enough to be found.
The problem could be solved by having a paired set of black boxes. One would be ejected from the aircraft when a critical situation arose. The one still in the plane would keep recording and start transmitting the information to its twin at the same time. The external black box could safely float to earth on a parachute and deploy floats if it landed in water, making it much easier to retrieve than the one embedded in the airplane. (I suggested this on the White House web site a week or two ago.)
With flash memory getting so inexpensive, why not have multiple (slave) boxes distributed in many places in the aircraft? Maybe have a half a dozen recorders or so.
With flash memory getting so inexpensive, why not have multiple (slave) boxes distributed in many places in the aircraft? Maybe have a half a dozen recorders or so.
forget onboard memory, have the information stream directly to a recorder via satellite. The information will not be lost.