Now that the Cockpit Voice Recorder has been recovered from the wreckage of a wing at a depth of nearly 100 feet in the Java Sea, investigation agencies must have taken a sigh of relief. The two boxes recovered will provide crucial data which shall then help determine the cause of the crash.
The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) will be flown to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, where data will be downloaded and analyzed. As the CVR records data in a two hour loop, it will have information on what all transpired between the captain and the co-pilot. The CVR also records all transmissions between the pilots and air traffic controllers along with all noises within the cockpit including any alarms or explosions. The FDR records the data on the position and condition of the major part of the plane, which includes air speed, heading, cruising level, engine thrust, rate of ascent or descent, and altitude (up or down angle of the plane).
All in all, there will be more than 200 parameters to be processed and analysed. It may be recalled that the AirAsia flight 8501 vanished four minutes after its request for a climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet was turned down. This was on 28th December, 2014. All the 162 people on board were killed, though only 48 bodies have been recovered so far. Worse still, decomposition has made identification very difficult for distraught families, waiting to bury their near and dear ones.
Meanwhile, Airbus is in talks with European regulators regarding the installation of an ejectable ‘black box’ which will make it easier to recover vital data following an air crash. Ejectable black boxes have long been in use in military aircrafts. These boxes detach from an aircraft in case of a crash and transmit distress signals rendering search for flight data faster & easier.
Generally speaking, the year 2014 has been difficult for the aviation industry. Prior to the AirAsia crash, in another high profile air accident, Malaysian Airlines MH17 was shot down. However in this case, the black boxes were quickly recovered. In case of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which has not been found so far, it would have been easy to locate the plane, if ejectable blackbox technology was used.
You may also like:
