One of the first thing that comes to everyone's mind when a plane crash is reported is the whereabouts of the airplane's Black Box. But how many of us actually know why this box is so vital in an airplane or that it is actually bright orange in colour?
What does the Black Box consist of?
Any commercial plane or corporate jet is mandated to be equipped with one flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder. These two recorders are commonly referred to as a "Black Box." These devices become very important should the flight crash and help investigators find what went wrong and what caused the flight to crash.
To add to the utility of these devices, they are fitted with an Underwater Locater Beacon (ULB). The ULB activates as soon as it comes in contact with water and is capable of sending signals from as deep as 14,000 feet.
These recorders are subjected to various climatic conditions to test their resistance and viability. The Black Box can operate at varying temperatures ranging from -55°C to +70°C and is capable of storing more than a day's flight data.
Who invented it?
The Black Box was invented in Australia by David Warren who was a researcher at the Aeronautical Research Laboratory and an investigator in the mysterious crash case of the Comet, the world's first jet powered commercial aircraft. Realising the importance of collecting information to find out what leads to a crash, Warren came up with the idea of the Black Box and had its first demonstration in 1957.
Cockpit Voice Recorder & Flight Data Recorder
The two boxes which are collectively called the Black box have different uses. The Cockpit Voice Recorder, as the name suggests is used to record the activity in the cockpit including what the crew is saying. It is useful to the investigators because it helps them track unusual sounds of engine, stall warnings and emergency pings. These sounds helps them deduce possible explanation. It also helps in determining the timing of events. It is located in the tail of the plane. The other box which is the Flight Data Recorder is responsible for recording the many operational details of the plane all at once. This includes time, altitude, airspeed, directions and pressure. Not just this, but it records other technicalities as well. These boxes help the investigators create a computer video reconstruction of the events as it happened. This can then help the government and aviation industry to take necessary steps to make air travel safer.
With the number of aircraft crashes in the recent past, the importance of the black box cannot be emphasised enough and efforts are on to make them more sophisticated and accurate to help investigators find the cause of a crash in a more precise manner.
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