eli5 Why can’t black boxes in Aeroplanes update data to a cloud throughout a flight or after a crash has occured? why do we need to find the physical box?
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This question came up on Reddit when that Malaysian airplane disappeared a few years ago and the common answer was that it costs too much.
This question came up on Reddit when that Malaysian airplane disappeared a few years ago and the common answer was that it costs too much.
Black boxes are there to collect data when things go catastrophically wrong and is the way to DEFINITELY get data to ensure the industry can understand and learn how not to repeat the steps that lead to the accident. If the plane is alright enough to transmit information, it’s probably able to land safely and the crew can give a report about what happened. The black box is just a redundancy for the worst case scenario.
Black boxes are there to collect data when things go catastrophically wrong and is the way to DEFINITELY get data to ensure the industry can understand and learn how not to repeat the steps that lead to the accident. If the plane is alright enough to transmit information, it’s probably able to land safely and the crew can give a report about what happened. The black box is just a redundancy for the worst case scenario.
Black boxes are there to collect data when things go catastrophically wrong and is the way to DEFINITELY get data to ensure the industry can understand and learn how not to repeat the steps that lead to the accident. If the plane is alright enough to transmit information, it’s probably able to land safely and the crew can give a report about what happened. The black box is just a redundancy for the worst case scenario.
“Black boxes” have been mandated in planes for 30-40 years before satellite comms technology has been readily- and relatively-cheaply available.
Many planes do upload telemetry data now (mostly for engine performance-monitoring, pre-emptive servicing etc), but I’ve no idea whether it’s as complete (in terms of number/type of instruments) or as high-resolution (time-updates) as black-box. They probably don’t upload the cockpit voice.
Remember it’s only relatively recently that we’ve had low cost high bandwidth satellite data-comms… and rules and regs for airlines evolve over decades.
There’s also a possibility that comms with satellites could be lost, e.g. if deliberately jammed by military or solar-storm events. Also if systems started to fail on a plane, in an unfolding drama, is it likely you’d lose satellite comms (or power to that system) sometime before the final crash? The black box is very very reliable.
“Black boxes” have been mandated in planes for 30-40 years before satellite comms technology has been readily- and relatively-cheaply available.
Many planes do upload telemetry data now (mostly for engine performance-monitoring, pre-emptive servicing etc), but I’ve no idea whether it’s as complete (in terms of number/type of instruments) or as high-resolution (time-updates) as black-box. They probably don’t upload the cockpit voice.
Remember it’s only relatively recently that we’ve had low cost high bandwidth satellite data-comms… and rules and regs for airlines evolve over decades.
There’s also a possibility that comms with satellites could be lost, e.g. if deliberately jammed by military or solar-storm events. Also if systems started to fail on a plane, in an unfolding drama, is it likely you’d lose satellite comms (or power to that system) sometime before the final crash? The black box is very very reliable.
In a lot of accident scenarios something unusual happens with severe weather or loss of control. Those things are also likely to disrupt a satellite link – it’s really hard to transmit through a thunderstorm and it’s hard to keep a microwave beam pointed at a satellite if you’re tumbling through the air.
In fact, navigation or flight-instrument problems make it hard to know where you are in relation to satellites, so in those scenarios you probably would lose the connection as well.
I think it could be worth trying but in many cases the data would be missing until you find the memory modules anyway.
“Black boxes” have been mandated in planes for 30-40 years before satellite comms technology has been readily- and relatively-cheaply available.
Many planes do upload telemetry data now (mostly for engine performance-monitoring, pre-emptive servicing etc), but I’ve no idea whether it’s as complete (in terms of number/type of instruments) or as high-resolution (time-updates) as black-box. They probably don’t upload the cockpit voice.
Remember it’s only relatively recently that we’ve had low cost high bandwidth satellite data-comms… and rules and regs for airlines evolve over decades.
There’s also a possibility that comms with satellites could be lost, e.g. if deliberately jammed by military or solar-storm events. Also if systems started to fail on a plane, in an unfolding drama, is it likely you’d lose satellite comms (or power to that system) sometime before the final crash? The black box is very very reliable.
>Why can’t black boxes in Aeroplanes update data to a cloud throughout a flight or after a crash has occured? why do we need to find the physical box?
Because until very recently, we didn’t have the wireless bandwidth and satellite networks capable of doing that.
A more practical idea would be to have the data stored in multiple black boxes in various parts of the plane – maybe even one that floats and is automatically ejected if it winds up in the water.
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