On Thursday, Ethiopian Airlines announced that the Black box of the ill-fated Ethiopian plane crash been taken to France for analysis.
“An Ethiopian delegation led by Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has flown the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) to Paris, France for investigation,” the airline communicated via its Twitter handle.
Referred to as the black box because, according to Klm.com, “it is often charred black after a crash or, it may be because the very first boxes were painted black to prevent reflection or because ‘black box’ is a general name in science for devices with in-and output of data with complex internal workings”.
Professionals call black boxes Flight Data Recorders (FDRs).
They are in two types, either combined in one unit or separated.
In other words, the FDR can be separate from the other black box called the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).
The Flight Data Recorder captures information about the plane itself. It tracks the specific aircraft performance parameters such as the plane direction, speed, time and altitude.
The Cockpit Voice Recorder on the other hand, records the audio environment (engine noise, stall warnings, emergency pings and pops) in the flight deck including the conversation of the pilots.
Australia became the first country to make flight data recorders mandatory for all commercial flights in 1960 after a plane accident in Queensland.
The ‘black boxes’ help plane crash investigators visualise how the plane was working and how the crew was handling it shortly before the accident.
The two recorders have a device fitted to them known as an Underwater Locator Beacon (ULB).
The device is activated as soon as the recorder comes into contact with water and it can transmit from a depth as deep as 14,000 feet.?