Not sure if this is a topic for a 5 year old, but I’m curious. I know we have black boxes
that keep record of data, but is it more than that?
I was reading about a B2 stealth bomber crash almost 15 years ago, the USAF investigation determined there
was moisture in the port transducer units causing
the air data system to malfunction.
If the plane crashed, how can they draw the
conclusion that there was moisture anywhere at all?
In: 4
Investigators will draw from many sources. The black box is obviously a big one as it can tell what the systems were reporting at the time of the crash and what the pilots’ were discussing and trying to do. But there are also maintenance logs to see if there was any recent work done or known issues with any equipment that may have potentially failed. Personnel records in the event of pilot error. Weather reports regarding humidity and temperature of the region the crash occurred. Pulling all this together, investigators will try to come up with an explanation that matches all the available data.
In your example with the B2, it was likely that the black box had recorded the system failure. Knowing the system, experts can come up with various reasons which may cause the reported type of failure. If moisture is a possibility, they would then look at weather and maintenance reports to see if there was some likely path to which the system might be exposed to intruding moisture. They would go over other possibilities too if applicable then weight the likelihood of each.
Not sure if this is a topic for a 5 year old, but I’m curious. I know we have black boxes
that keep record of data, but is it more than that?
I was reading about a B2 stealth bomber crash almost 15 years ago, the USAF investigation determined there
was moisture in the port transducer units causing
the air data system to malfunction.
If the plane crashed, how can they draw the
conclusion that there was moisture anywhere at all?
In: 4
Investigators will draw from many sources. The black box is obviously a big one as it can tell what the systems were reporting at the time of the crash and what the pilots’ were discussing and trying to do. But there are also maintenance logs to see if there was any recent work done or known issues with any equipment that may have potentially failed. Personnel records in the event of pilot error. Weather reports regarding humidity and temperature of the region the crash occurred. Pulling all this together, investigators will try to come up with an explanation that matches all the available data.
In your example with the B2, it was likely that the black box had recorded the system failure. Knowing the system, experts can come up with various reasons which may cause the reported type of failure. If moisture is a possibility, they would then look at weather and maintenance reports to see if there was some likely path to which the system might be exposed to intruding moisture. They would go over other possibilities too if applicable then weight the likelihood of each.
Latest Answers