Investigators are working to retrieve the remnants of the two aircraft involved in a crash in Washington DC that killed 67 people and raised questions about air safety.
The black boxes have been recovered from the American Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet, which collided with a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday, killing 67 people.
Lead investigator Brice Banning said the helicopter also contained “some form of recording devices” that would be read either by the National Transportation Safety Board or by the Defense Department under existing agreements.
What are black boxes?
The name is a misnomer; they are not actually black but high-visibility orange. Experts disagree how the nickname originated but it has become synonymous with the quest for answers when planes crash.
Many historians attribute their invention to Australian scientist David Warren in the 1950s. Earliest devices recorded limited data on wire or foil. Later devices switched to magnetic tape. Modern ones use computer chips inside hard casings.
There are two recorders: a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) for pilot voices or cockpit sounds, and a separate Flight Data Recorder (FDR). Some devices combine both functions.
They are mandatory on civil flights and the aim is to preserve clues from cockpit sounds and data to help prevent future accidents, but not to determine wrongdoing or liability.
In broad terms, investigators say the FDR helps them analyse what happened and the CVR can – though not always – start to explain why. But experts caution that no two probes are the same and virtually all accidents involve multiple factors.
The disappearance in 2014 of Malaysian Airlines MH370 triggered debate about whether data should be streamed instead.
How big are black boxes on planes?
They weigh about 10 pounds (4.5 kilos) and contain four main parts:
- A chassis or interface designed to fix the device and facilitate recording and playback
- An underwater locator beacon
- The core housing or ‘Crash Survivable Memory Unit’ made of stainless steel or titanium able to withstand…
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