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AirAsia QZ8501 Black Box Found

Posted by timothy on from the what-was-lost dept.

jones_supa writes Indonesia's Directorate General of Marine Transport has confirmed that the black box of AirAsia QZ8501 has been found, Indonesian authorities said in a press release. The breakthrough comes exactly two weeks after the flight from Surabaya to Singapore went down with 162 people on board. In the press release, marine transport coordinator Tonny Budiono said that the credit goes to navy divers from Indonesia navy ship KN Jadayat, who found the black box at a depth of 30 to 32 meters. The black box is currently wedged between pieces of wreckage making it difficult for divers to retrieve, and due to time constraints, the actual retrieval will take place on Monday morning.

7 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. "The" black box ? by rossdee · · Score: 4, Informative

    I thought there were 2 of them

    Flight Data recorder (records all the instrument readings and control inputs from the pilot)
    Cockpit Voice recorder (rocords the voices of the pilot and copilot saying "shit"

    Generally the first one is the most important source of information.

    1. Re:"The" black box ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Bot FDR and CVR record the same data on an A320. They are redundant units. One is in the tail, one is in the middle of the aircraft. If one is found, they have everything they need to investigate.

    2. Re:"The" black box ? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

      The FDR usually gives the "how", the CVR typically fills in the "why".

      The FDR gave us a Controlled Flight Into Terrain in the AF447 crash, the CVR told us the crew were completely confused as to what was going on and didn't perform the correct procedures.

      The CVR also records other sounds in the cockpit, and has been used many times to determine if certain actions were performed, identifying if the failure was mechanical or human error - for example, in one case a plane that overrun the runway on landing in bad weather because the pilots failed to arm the spoilers, which was determined through the lack of arming sound on the CVR.

  2. Re:Disgusting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    It helps investigators find out what led to the crash. That information can be used to prevent similar crashes in the future.

  3. Re:Disgusting by Paul+Carver · · Score: 4, Informative

    I can't tell what you're advocating, can you clarify? Are you making the case that planes shouldn't have black boxes?
    Or are you advocating that they shouldn't have insurance?

  4. Re:Disgusting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, that is true. But you will not take away the justification to create black boxes in the first place, which is insurance, plain and simple.

    You can sugar coat a pile of dogshit all you want. At the end of the day, it's still a pile of dogshit that smells, much like the truths that are hard to swallow.

    You have NO idea what you are talking about. Insurance is
    a secondary issue compared to preventing similar incidents
    in the future. The entire history of aviation is filled with accidents
    and incidents, many of which occurred when the current tort system
    and all those who profit from it were not in existence.

    Safety was the reason flight data recorders were created, PERIOD.

    By the way, I work for NTSB. I do know what I am talking about, I have
    worked in the field for over 20 years. What exactly are YOUR
    qualifications, other than that you own a device which allows you to post
    on Slashdot ?

    /

  5. Re:pings by Richard_at_work · · Score: 4, Informative

    Airbus doesn't sell aircraft fitted with data recorders which dont have the standard locator beacons.