If the little black box is indestructable, why dont they make the whole plane out of it?

Answer 1

A number of observational comedians have expressed their view that, because the box seems to be indestructable, the substance used to make the box should be used to make the entire airplane. However, writer Douglas Adams observed that, "...because flight recorders are made out titanium and that if you made planes out of titanium rather than aluminium they’d be far too heavy to get off the ground in the first place."

Answer 2

This question is asked at least twice a week.

1: The material and construction would make the plane too heavy to fly.

2: The black box survives because of its location in the aircraft (at the back) and then not always.

3: The black box is designed to withstand a large impact once. Aircraft need to withstand take off, pressuruzation, and landing up to 100,000 times.

4: Even if the aircraft was made 'indestructable', going from 600MPH to 0MPH in a few seconds will turn anyone into hamburger.

The most dangerous part of flying is the cab ride to the airport. 9/11 would have to happen every month to equal North American car accidents.

Answer 3

Simple answer:

It is not indestructible, and if the plane were made out of the same material it would be to heavy to fly. Also just by its size it is more survivable than a large plane slamming into the ground. As the aircraft hits the ground, it crushes and breaks up. As a result the "Black Box" is somewhat cushioned.
"Black Boxes are located in various locations depending on the aircraft. On a HH-60 Jayhawk Coast Guard rescue helicopter, it is located on a avionics rack behind the pilot's seat.
Another think most people do not know about "Black Boxes" is that they are not really black, instead they are bright orange. This is so that they can be easily located in a crash. just about all of the electrical components in a plane are in black boxes, stuff like the radios, instruments, computers, and so forth. In a debris field, a orange box is going to be more visible and distinguishable than just another black one.


Hope that helps some, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Answer 4

It is indestructable due to the weight and strength of the casing. If you made the plane out it, it would have the power to move down the runway, let alone take off!

Incidentally, the black box is coloured orange so that it can be easy found at a crash site

Answer 5

First, Why is the blackbox indestructible? Because it is normally placed at the aft portion of the airplane (the tail section), which has been shown to remain intact in most airplane crashes. Furthermore it is protected from destruction by fire, water etc because of its protective cover.

Airplanes can be made of stronger metals other than aluminium but the drawback is the the added weight to the airplane, which will require more stronger engines for propulsion and airspeed will be affected. An example is the american airplane the A-10 "thunderbolt". This airplane is reinforced by armour to provide protection for the pilot during low level enemy encounter. It is powered by Jet engines but its speed is slow compared to the others because of the added weight.

Answer 6

It is an increadible misnomer to call the "black" boxes indestructable. I have never seen one from a crash that was not nearly destroyed. Like a car, these are designed to destroy their outer shells to protect their contents from becoming too damaged to retrieve the data they contain.

When an airplane crashes there is too much energy to absorb in this fashion regardless of the construction. According to the History channel, you are 5,000,000 times more likely to get into a car crash and die on your way to the airport than you are to be involved in a fatal airplane crash. Why doesn't someone do something about that instead?

Answer 7

Let me raise the BS flag here on a few answers...

Black boxes are not made out of titanium. The aircraft could be made out of titanium, but it would be too expensive.

Years ago, it was really crucial to protect the insides of a black box, because they used vinyl tape for recording, like VHS tape. Now they use a solid state memory like a USB stick, so internal damage is not so much of a problem, except for fire.

There are usually two boxes, one for the cockpit voice recorder, CVR, and one for the flight data, (DFDR), which picks up aircraft movement, engine controls and a few other items.

The boxes also have an acoustic beacon on them, which sends out a very low frequency pulse so it can be located.

You seat could be surrounded by 12" of titanium, and foam, to keep you from moving, but when you hit the ground at a few hundred MPH, you innards, including your brain, will get sloshed around so much, the trauma will kill you anyway.

Answer 8

First of course it is not indestructable, it is merely more portective than the rest of the plane. But it would be too heavy for the plane to fly.

Answer 9

If the plane was made out of 3/8 aluminium it would be far more protected as it would'nt lift off. This is an ongoing question that is constantly asked. Go with Bit burgers answer

Answer 10

(a) It is not indestructible -- merely highly resistant to damage; (b) the airplane would be too heavy to fly.