Why was flight data recorder invented? What problem did it solve?

Answer 1

Well the black box as it's commonly known.Was invented by a young australian in1957.Although not well received in australia, it was enthusiastically embraced by britain.They improved the device.Owing to an unexplained air accident in 1960 the australian govt made it mandatory for every aircraft to carry a flight recorder They were the first country to do so.Followed by the uk. Now every airplane in the world carries one The device records all audio sounds in the cockpit.Also records all instrument readings on pilots panel In fact everything in the cockpit is recorded. from takeoff to landing and engine shut-down

Answer 2

It was dsigned to help figure out what causes air plane crashes etc. But, I'm not an expert on the subject, if I am not mistaken, the FAA was also formed to prevent mishaps of anything air. They were never very suuccessful at doing that, and in order to justify their existence, they became investigators for after the fact accidents. We still pay them, and they still do nothing! Why do we Americans not send their jobs to India? That sure is where all of the IT jobs went to. Nobody protected the millions of Americans who lost their jobs because of that move, as a cost cutting measure. Have you called any high tech company who uses India? They do a wonderful job, plus they answer the phones! Send the pork barrel jobs of the FAA over there too! The data recorder has solved nothing! Planes sometimes go up, and come right back down(before they are supposed to). Also, do you think a data recorder(black box) would stop a drunk pilot from taxiing down a runway? I think not! OR, keep a co-pilot from getting on an incorrect runway(not long enough)? I think not! If they can't solve the simple things, how in heck are they going to solve the bigger problems of aviation? Also, if you have a fairly new car, that has a black box as well. Don't get in an accident, they can tell you exactly what you did at the time of impact, as well as shortly before the crash! SOON, our government will be putting GPS in everything we buy. They'll know more about you, than what you do! GPS already is in every cell phone.

Answer 3

A flight recorder is a recorder placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, they are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft accident. They are typically specified to withstand an impact of 3600 g and temperatures of over 1,000 °C. The first flight recorder was invented in 1953 in Australia, by David Warren[1].

In order to facilitate recovery of the recorder from an aircraft accident site they are required to be coloured bright yellow or orange with reflective surfaces. All are lettered "FLIGHT RECORDER DO NOT OPEN" on one side in English and the same in French on the other side. To assist recovery from submerged sites they must be equipped with an underwater locator beacon which is automatically activated in the event of an accident.

There are two types of protected Flight Recorder, Flight data recorder (FDR) and Cockpit voice recorder (CVR). In some cases, the two recorders may be combined in a single FDR/CVR unit.

Since the 1970s most large civil jet transports have been additionally equipped with a "Quick Access Recorder" (QAR). This records data on a removable storage medium. Access to the FDR and CVR is necessarily difficult because of the requirement that they survive an accident. They also require specialist equipment to read the recording. The QAR recording medium is readily removable and is designed to be read by equipment attached to a standard desktop computer. In many airlines the quick access recordings are scanned for 'events', an event being a significant deviation from normal operational parameters. This allows operational problems to be detected and eliminated before an accident or incident results.

Many modern aircraft systems are digital or digitally controlled. Very often the digital system will include Built-In Test Equipment which records information about the operation of the system. This information may also be accessed to assist with the investigation of an accident or incident.

Cockpit video recorders have been suggested but are not yet required. The rationale is that what is seen on an instrument by the pilots of an aircraft is not necessarily the same as the data sent to the display device. This is particularly true of aircraft equipped with electronic displays (CRT or LCD). A mechanical instrument is likely to preserve its last indication but this is not the case with an electronic display.

Answer 4

It records everything from conversations of the pilots to a light blinking on the pilots dashboard to wind speeds and velocity, cabin air pressure, latitude and longitude. I could go on and on but all this is recorded for the purpose of exposing anything from flight errors to major problems like an dysfunctional engine.