Air India Crash: What Is A Black Box And How It Could Help Probe

From its humble beginnings as a strip of photographic film to today’s robust, solid-state memory units, the aircraft flight recorder, also known as the "black box," has become one of the most critical safety tools in aviation. 

Investigators are now rushing to locate Air India flight AI 171's black box in the wake of Thursday's tragic crash, that occurred just after takeoff from Ahmedabad. Reports are yet to confirm if the flight recorders have been located, but once found, they will be key to understanding what went wrong.

Here are some key facts about a black box.

The idea originated in the 1930s when François Hussenot, a French engineer, created a light-sensitive film data recorder. It was housed in a "black" or lightproof case. The name stuck, even though the devices are actually bright orange, which helps people recognise them among other debris. A Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder are the two parts of a typical black box unit.

Conversations between the pilot and co-pilot, radio transmissions, warning alarms, and even background noise like switch clicks or engine hums are all recorded by the CVR. The FDR provides a second-by-second record of the aircraft's performance by recording technical parameters such as altitude, speed, engine thrust, control positions, system alerts, and more.

Together, these devices provide investigators with a timeline of the flight’s final moments, often serving as the aviation equivalent of a crime scene DNA test. 

Flight recorders are designed to withstand the worst. They are designed to survive severe fire, explosions, high-impact collisions, and submersion in deep water and are kept in crash-protected containers. The data stored inside can typically cover up to 25 hours and include as many as 3,500 different parameters, from autopilot inputs to fuel system performance.

Modern black boxes rely on solid-state memory chips, which are more dependable due to their lack of moving parts, as opposed to earlier models that used magnetic tape or photographic film. 

To overcome the risk of black boxes being lost in hard-to-reach crash sites, companies like Airbus have explored satellite-based data streaming — beaming flight data live in real time. The automatic deployable recorder is another innovation in development. It is intended to eject and float upon impact, transmitting its location to assist rescue teams. 

Additionally, some aircraft now use combined voice and data recorders that meet new International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines requiring 25-hour voice recordings, with at least one unit automatically deployable on long-haul aircraft. 

The core of any investigation into an air crash is the black box. They assist investigators in determining whether human error, mechanical failure, or outside influences were to blame. Black box data was crucial to revealing the truth in previous incidents, such as the 2020 Kozhikode crash and international cases like Malaysia Airlines 370 and Germanwings 9525.

In the case of the Air India crash, the recorders will be central to the investigation once they are found and recovered. As of now, rescue teams are still combing through the wreckage near Ahmedabad to locate the device.