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AirAsia QZ8501 Black Box Found

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.

4 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Disgusting by khallow · · Score: 4, Interesting

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

    Even if this were true, what makes it a "pile of dogshit that smells". Insurance does serve a very useful role in our society.

  2. Re:"The" black box ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    AF447 was not controlled flight, it was falling like a brick with a slight nose up pitch. They had barely any airspeed but the idiot with his hand on the sidestick thought they had too much, to quote him "crazy speed".

    I might add another example of the CVR providing data through registered sounds: Air Florida 90. They didn't have takeoff thrust but thought they did because the engine pressure ratio indicators were frozen and showed a higher value than reality. The investigators compared the engine sound from an identical aircraft with that heard on the CVR. I also recall from watching Air Crash Investigation that in an explosion with practically no conversation recorded after the event, there can be an indication on the tape just before it ends due to the microphone having a noise filter which registers that some sound is coming.

  3. Re:"The" black box ? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 4, Interesting

    AF447 was controlled flight, the pilots were in complete control for the entire time, there was no departure from pilot command at any time during the flight. There was no mechanical failure which caused the aircraft from being uncontrollable.

    That makes it CFIT within the meaning defined by accident investigators. The aerodynamic stall was created by the pilot-flying action, and could have corrected the issue at any point, but did not. The aircraft was not in a situation where command input would not have been able to control the aircraft, so definitely a CFIT.

  4. Re:"The" black box ? by RubberDogBone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wish I had mod points, but then I would not get to say Bravo for nailing it.

    AF447 was clearly CFIT. Nothing stopped the crew from preventing the crash except their own belief that they knew better than the systems they relied upon basically ALL the other time they were flying. But once, over the ocean and in a storm, they knew better.

    I never understand how drivers flying heavys suddenly think they can do the seat-of-the-pants thing like they're flying a barnstormer, much less at the very moment when all their skill needs to come to play. But it happens. AF447 was not the first time raw ego flew into terrain and it won't be the last, unfortunately.

    This Air Asia plane probably broke up in weather from the sound of the wreckage. Why it didn't do more to evade the weather is going to a good question. Boxes will tell the story.

    --
    Sig for hire.