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Re: Locating black boxes in plane crash/Comac's Technology It turns out that the suggestion had been considered at least two years ago: http://www.strategic-risk-global.com/risk-innovation-europes-airbus-to-create-retrievable-black-boxes-after-lessons-learnt-from-mh370/1413135.article Comac’s technology, called Harbinger, allows a black box recorder to be ejected from a plane before a crash, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua. The recorder then makes its landing with a parachute, and, if it lands in water, will be kept afloat by a buoy. https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-commercial-planes-have-auto-ejecting-parachute-equipped-black-boxes
Why don't commercial planes have auto-ejecting parachute-equipped black boxes?
Is it technological or financial limitations? It seems as if a duplicate black box that separates from a rapidly descending plane at a particular altitude -- then parachutes -- and then floats -- should be attainable.
3 Answers
Tom Farrier, Member, International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI); more than ...
Both are expensive to install and maintain, and neither is 100% reliable by a long shot. The current combination of (1) crash-protected flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders mounted in at least semi-survivable locations in the aircraft, (2) G-force activated emergency locator transmitters, and (3) water-activated acoustic beacons (AKA "pingers") has served the aviation industry pretty well for a very long time. Even so, some initiatives are being considered that would improve the real-time tracking of aircraft operating in areas where radar coverage is spotty or non-existent. MH370 has been defying its searchers' efforts to date because it obviously wasn't where it was supposed to be when it went down -- wherever that is -- and the search was initially delayed and misdirected accordingly. In contrast, QZ8501 was found exactly where you'd expect to find it, using the techniques that pretty much always work these days for locating any downed aircraft that has followed its flight plan. Some variation on your suggestion is likely to be considered again by both national and international in light of the most recent accident and the period of uncertainty while it was missing. If it turns out to be more cost-effective than other approaches (say, depending on GPS), it might get some traction. However, these days, cost-benefit and return on investment considerations always are in play in such discussions, so my guess is that something that could useful for purposes beyond simply locating a downed aircraft (perhaps supporting air traffic control in some manner) probably would be considered preferable. Even the idea of a floating black box:
http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-airbus-to-equip-long-haul-jets-with-floatable-black-boxes-2015-1
In The Future, Airbus Black Boxes Will Float
Delphine Touitou, Jan. 13, 2015, 10:19 AM
Paris (AFP) - Long-haul Airbus A350 and A380 passengers jets will soon come equipped with ejectable black boxes that can float, making them easier to find in an air crash at sea, aviation sources said Monday. "At the end of last year Airbus got the green light from EASA (European Air Security Agency) to work on the necessary modifications to its planes in order to install these new black boxes in the rear of the planes," one of the sources told AFP. An EASA spokesman confirmed that the agency was working on changing the necessary certification to allow Airbus to equip its planes with the new flight data and cockpit voice recorders. "The change is generally quick," the spokesman added. The technology, which has already been approved for military aircraft, has not been used in civil aviation because up until a few years ago air accidents have mainly happened during take-off or landing. Black boxes are generally found easily on land. But in recent years passenger jets have crashed into the ocean raising the need for new technology to help find the black boxes. These recorders are critical in air crash investigations as they provide information on how the planes were operating and the conversations of the pilots. Investigators say they help explain 90 percent of crashes. In 2009 an Air France jet travelling from Rio to Paris with 228 people on board went down in the Atlantic and the search for the black boxes at the bottom of the ocean took nearly two years. In March last year a Malaysia Airlines disappeared over the Indian Ocean and its black boxes have still not be found. Then last month an AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea and so far divers have found the flight data recorder but not yet the cockpit recorder. "The idea is to modify the black boxes so that each one records the flight details and (cockpit) conversations. One would be ejectable, the other not," a source close to Airbus explained to AFP. An ejectable black box would be equipped with an airbag system so it could float on the surface of the water in the event of a crash at sea. It would also help to indicate the exact point of impact at the time of the crash and to find the wreckage. The Toulouse-based aircraft maker plans to install the ejectable black boxes first on its long-haul A350 and A380 jets since they are used in flights over oceans. The International Civil Aviation Organization is set to vote next month on a recommendation of one its working groups to equip commercial airliners with the technology. ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin said: "We will certainly be supportive of its efforts to improve the ability of its aircraft to be located in distress situations" as long as the new systems meet or exceed its standards. For its part, Boeing, Airbus's main rival, said that while it supports industry efforts to improve the ability to find aircraft and recorders, more research is needed into ejectable recorders. "Deployable recorders as a means of quicker recorder recovery needs further study, particularly with regard to mitigating unintended consequences," said a Boeing spokesman. "It's worth noting that several improvements to increase the likelihood of finding an airplane or recovering a data recorder more quickly have recently been implemented or are planned in the near future," added the spokesman. Since the 2009 crash of an Air France jet travelling from Rio to Paris black boxes have upgraded to be able to send an underwater location signal for 90 days instead of the previous 30 days, although airlines are not under any obligation to install the new recorders. The ICAO is also set to endorse next month requiring commercial aircraft to automatically report their position every 15 minutes, up from the current 30 requirement minutes, and every minute in case the aircraft veers from its flight plan. Modern commercial airliners already send data during flight via satellite regarding performance of the aircraft to improve maintenance on the ground, so the changes are not difficult to implement. Some airlines have moved forward on their own in this regard. Air France has it airliners report their location every 10 minutes and every minute in case any anomalies. |
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