David Lock

Why don't black boxes have airbags fitted to them that activate when they get wet or under pressure i.e. 12,000 ft of water and float to surface?

Perhaps they do or is it that the boxes are built-in and would not be released when a plane crashes or explodes?

dl

dpb

They suppossed to be impenetrable are they not ?





Plenty of subs that ill get down that far , not a nice job

MJW

If the black box is indestructible, why the hell don't they just make the entire plane out of the same stuff ?

dpb

is it cos it would never get off the ground

David Lock

Are you sure? That's pretty bloody deep

It's just that I heard an Air France guy say they would probably never be retrieved. dl

dpb

Too expensive they mean , to be sure

Chris L

I think the deepest recorded dive by a submarine is something like 35000 ft, so there is certainly no problem getting down that far, but actually finding the black box in that terrain, even with a locator beacon would be one hell of a job.

FlightMan

That's exactly it. To do what you describe the boxes would need to be jettisoned before the crash.

Leslie

There is a remotely controlled submarine which will go down to 14,000 feet I hear. If they can find it that might do the job.

Les

stilover

Why are they called "Black Box" when they are cleary "Red"?

BOB.T

Jeez Nat, you're gonna need a sub to get back up to the bottom of the barrel after that!

Leslie

I think you are right, but maybe they could hoist that bit of the fuselage up, it has been done before even if nowhere near as deep though.

Les

Jamz3k

amusing

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Wouldnt it be cool if the black box was a secure server and all the info was uploaded to it via satellite and stored on dry land. No more searching for black boxes in the middle of nowhere.

<runs of to the patent office>

lol

Tidgy

ithe pressure would have done the box in already if its that deep, getting down there, getting it isn't an issue, but the pressure will have cracked the casing, let water in and thats all she wrote.

FlightMan

You mean " Orange "

Simon C

Assuming the news reports are correct and its in approx 3700m of water.

Thats 371 bar the box is under, thats alot of pressure by anyones standards.

(Pressure increases by 1 bar per 10m down, + 1 bar atmospheric)

Simon C

You'd hope so. The Sky 1 programme with Hampster tried destroying 1, not sure if they succeeded.

Petem95

I'm sure they are made to withstand as much as possible as it's in everyones interest that these things remain intact after a crash. For the aircraft manufacturer they will want to know what caused the crash so that any potential issues with the aircraft can be addressed before re-occuring, and in situations like the recent Air France crash, knowing what happened will give the families of the victims some sort of closure.

Petem95

yep

NotoriousREV

Yep, although in the rare event of a short circuit shutting down several systems...oh, wait...