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Flight Data Recorders, Decades Out of Date

Posted by Soulskill on from the jet-lagging-behind dept.

Tisha_AH writes "For the past fifty years the technology behind aircraft flight data recorders has remained stagnant. Some of the advances of cloud computing, mesh radio networks, real-time position reporting and satellite communications are held back by a combination of aircraft manufacturers, pilots unions and the slow gears of government bureaucracy. Many recent aircraft loss incidents remain unexplained, with black boxes lost on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, buried under the wreckage of the World Trade Centers or with critical information suppressed by government secrecy or aircraft manufacturers. Many devices still rely upon tape recorders for voice and data that only record a very small sampling of aircraft dynamics, flight and engine systems or crew behaviors. Technologically simple solutions like battery backup, continual telemetry feeds by satellite and hundreds of I/O points, monitoring many systems should be within easy reach. Pilot unions have objected to the collection and sharing of detailed accident data, citing privacy concerns of the flight crew. Accidents may be due to human error, process problems or design flaws. Unless we can fully evaluate all factors involved in transportation accidents, it will be difficult to improve the safety record. Recommendations by the NTSB to the FAA have gone unheeded for many years. With all of the technological advancements that we work with in the IT field, what sort of best practices could be brought forward in transit safety?"

9 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Dune Coons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So the one place where there would be a benefit to all this nifty surveillance technology that keeps popping up everywhere else and for once, with no civil rights issues ... and they let it go decades out of date. Doing something useful must not be as fun as circumventing the Constitution for politicians.

    Really if this were a private Internet connection with an expectation of privacy they'd have come up with 20 different ways to monitor it, 5 of which wouldn't require a warrant due to bad precedent. A flight data recorder has no concerns about privacy and such so it just isn't a priority. Nice. Real nice.

  2. tape isn't bad by infalliable · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tape is one of the best long term and reliable storage methods. As long as it doesn't burn (which kills any memory type), it's more stable in most situations than the modern memory devices. Remember, it has be stable in salt water, in high impact, humid environments, dry environments, wide temperature ranges, take electrical shock, etc.

    People just think it sucks b/c it's old school and clunky.

    1. Re:tape isn't bad by vijayiyer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Would you feel comfortable with a keystroke logger installed on your work computer by your employer?

  3. FAIL by m0s3m8n · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Many recent aircraft loss incidents remain unexplained, ....., buried under the wreckage of the World Trade Centers" - This has to be the dumbest statement of all time. I think everyone knows what happened to the planes THAT WERE FLOWN INTO THE WTC BY MUSLIM TERRORISTS. Fail.

    --
    Conservative, mod down for violating /. political norms.
    1. Re:FAIL by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You also left out the part about the government hiding crucial data. You know like when Grey's cause a plane to crash or when the Illuminati shoot one down to see how we will react. Where is my tin foil hat?
      What people don't understand is that you are
      more likely to die in your car or hit by lightning than in an airliner crash. It is a flashy news worthy event when it happens because it is so rare.
      Here is the big question. How many times has a black box not been found? And how many times has the lack of one caused other planes to crash?
      The airlines are already adding real time telemetry to their new airlines if for no other reason than to improve maintenance. The older black boxes are getting replaced be newer and better ones. The old ones do actually work very well and have provided the data needed to improve safety over the years.
      So for this most part this whole thing is a paranoid issue with very little merit in the big scheme of things.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    2. Re:FAIL by Sprouticus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You also left out the part about the government hiding crucial data. You know like when Grey's cause a plane to crash or when the Illuminati shoot one down to see how we will react. Where is my tin foil hat?
      What people don't understand is that you are
      more likely to die in your car or hit by lightning than in an airliner crash. It is a flashy news worthy event when it happens because it is so rare.
      Here is the big question. How many times has a black box not been found? And how many times has the lack of one caused other planes to crash?

      Well unless my logic 101 professor in college failed miserably, it is impossible to know if a box which was never found could have prevented another crash.

  4. a bit for unions a bit for bureaucracy... by DMiax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The rabid tone of the summary is completely unsupported by the article itself. Does the submitter have any evidence that advancements are held back by unions, bureaucracy and privacy concerns? The article does not claim anything like that.

    They are just proposing a replacement technology with a catchy name. The submitter is a massive troll.

  5. Welcome to Drudge-dot! by damn_registrars · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Interesting intro:

    held back by a combination of aircraft manufacturers, pilots unions and the slow gears of government bureaucracy

    Does the article support the notion of the pilots unions fighting against modernization of flight recorders? No, it doesn't. Does common sense support such a notion? No, it doesn't either.

    Really, this is not a place for union bashing. If you have an axe to grind, so be it. But don't try to wield your axe at every conceived opportunity, or you'll end up making yourself look silly - as you just did.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  6. "Advances of cloud computing" are being held back? by sirwired · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Given that "Cloud Computing" as a buzzword is only about two years old, and has yet to receive a great deal of commercial deployment, I think we can hardly blame the FAA, NTSB, Boeing, Airbus, and airlines for not deploying it Right The Heck Now.

    What does that even mean, to use "Cloud Computing" for the "black box"? Cloud Computing has about as coherent of a definition as the previous buzzword du jour, "Web 2.0".

    SirWired