What is a black box

What is a black box, black box, aviation accidents, plane, black box components, black box capacity, The first black box on an airplane

aviation accidents

News agencies have always been buzzing about plane crashes, and it has always been reported that the competent authorities have begun their work to investigate the course of the accident, and the search for any evidence that points to the causes of the accident usually begins by searching for the parts that have not yet crashed, and in most aviation accidents, the solution to the mystery is It is very important to avoid the causes of the accident on upcoming flights, so what is the black box? What is his role in solving such puzzles? 

What is a black box ?

The question can be answered: "What is a black box?" It is an electronic recording device that saves all important flight data such as location , route, speed, and altitude. It also records all conversations made by the pilots, whether with the control tower or among crew members. The strange thing is that the black box is not black in color, it is in fact It is an orange metal package to make it easy to see when searching for it. There are two different types of recording devices called a black box :

• Flight Data Recorder-FDR-: which records the recent history of flight data, and has the ability to record dozens of information such as basic flight speed, altitude, position, engine acceleration, and engines rotational pressure indicators. 
• Cockpit Voice Recorder -CVR-: which records the recent history of all sounds in the cockpit, and all its internal conditions such as voice communication between crew members, voice broadcasts between crew members and the control tower, and other surrounding sounds in the event of a storming or hijacking of the aircraft. 

It is possible to combine these two devices into one device and into one unit, to provide an accurate testimony that tells all the details of the flight of the aircraft, so that all the information is interconnected to help any present or future investigation. 

black box components

In addition to answering the question: "What is the black box?" It consists of a metal chamber of high thickness and hardness of stainless steel, coated from the inside with a layer of aluminum to resist high temperatures in the event of a flame, and it is filled with sodium bicarbonate powder for its high ability to absorb heat, So that the heat does not cause damage to the internal components of the box, and it is sealed to prevent water from leaking inside, and the inside of the chamber contains electronic chips that act as a memory card that retains all information related to the flight, and the black box is subjected to strict tests by engineers, so that the durability of this The boxes in cases of violent collision, high temperatures, and high water pressure in the event of drowning in the seas and oceans, and the following is a mention of the function of some parts: 

• A thin layer of aluminum : surrounds memory cards to protect them from damage. 
• High temperature insulation: a quantity of dry silica with a layer equivalent to 2.54 cm, which provides maximum protection against high temperatures, which maintains the integrity of memory cards after accidents. 
• Stainless steel outer shell: It provides additional insulation against high temperatures, in addition to being non-rusting. The thickness of this layer is about 0.64 cm. Titanium is used as an outer cover for the box.

black box capacity

To accurately identify what is a black box, the features of this very important invention must be searched, as the black box is the first tool that investigators resort to in uncovering the circumstances of the accident. The design and engineering of the black box must be able to retain a large amount of important information and data that It may indicate the causes of accidents, and no matter how much external damage the black box is, it retains all the important data and information, which experts will be able to process through devices dedicated to processing this type of data, and not all parts of the black box are important in the event of an accident, as memory boards are collected Inside a cylinder called the wreck survivor memory unit, and this part of the box is the only survivor from the force of the collision, and the destruction of the rest of the box is not important, as long as this cylinder keeps all the data properly, and among the things that prevent data loss in the black box:

• Recording hours of 25 continuous hours of flight data, and 2 hours of cockpit environment recording, new data overwrites old data if no data recovery accident occurs. 
• The ability to withstand a collision with a force of up to 3,400 units of acceleration of gravity, which is a huge impact force that proves the strength and rigidity of this cylinder. 
• Heat resistance to 1100 degrees Celsius, as you will be able to withstand a fire due to jet fuel, which generates very high heat.
•  Pressure resistance of up to 6000 meters, i.e. if the cylinder sinks to deep ocean depths, you will be able to efficiently preserve all the data.

In the event of a plane crash, the black box has the ability to send inference signals on its location lasting up to 30 days after the crash, so that researchers can determine the location of the box via satellite , and by understanding this distinctive design and knowing the optimal manufacturing materials can know what the box is Black and how important it is in solving the mysteries of air disasters. 

The first black box on an airplane

The black box was unknown in antiquity, and there was no answer to the question: “What is a black box?” And in the early 1900s the first black box was carried on an airplane; Where Wilbur and Oroville campaign Dayton Ohio to do a test flight, and was tested in terms of data recording and retention of information, and gained the experience of success to be them, and became famous aviator Charles Lindbergh as the first person to solo across the Atlantic trip , carrying with him the fund on board the plane in 1927 And the black box at that time was somewhat primitive, and it could keep a small amount of recorded information from the flight, in that era its work was limited to a graph that sensed changes in atmospheric pressure. Using ink and paper wrapped around a rotating cylinder, but it witnessed a wave of developments after that to become what it is now, and it became important for all workers in the aviation sector to know what the black box is and its importance, and it has become an indispensable part of aircraft.