The Black Box

Aravind Rao B, Ajita Mishra Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur pioneercreator@gmail.com, ajitamishra75@gmail.com

Abstract
After man created the flying machine, and learnt to fly it better, the complexities of the systems got bigger, and so did the problems. These machines were commercialized, and, innocent peoples lives were put to test when a plane took off, although each of the commercial planes went through worldclass rigorous tests. If an accident took place, there generally wouldnt be any witnesses or survivors. We needed to see, what exactly went wrong in the flights so that it could assist us in determining a cause and enabling the prevention of future, avoidable accidents of the same type. The black box or sometimes called The instrument box was used to serve this purpose. It is officially called as FDR-CVR (Flight data recorder-Cockpit voice recorder) and they record up to a 100 flight parameters continuously including the voices of the pilots, radio communication and ambient sound. These devices, which must pass through stringent tests recommended by ICAO, can withstand forces up to 3400g, a pressure (underwater) of at least 14,000ft, and a fire temperature of 1100 oC. In this paper, we shall provide introduction on the various parts of black box, its applications and the possible future variants of the currently used FDR-CVR. Keywords: Keyword1

because of some reason, which cant be pin pointed even to this day! The crash didnt stop humans from building new sophisticated air planes. It would often appear that flights crashed without any reason, although the scientists who created them would bet their lives on it that it wasnt their mistake. So, those scientists insisted on creating a device which would monitor different aspects of flight and make that recording device, crash survivable to see what exactly went wrong. Clearly, it would help prevent accidents of the same kind in the future, indirectly saving many lives. With the advent of new technologies, aviation technology improved, and so did the technology inside the black box

Fig.1. A typical flight data recorder.

1 Introduction
Wright brothers were the pioneers in aviation technology. They were able to fly and sustain in air like no human had done before. But, unfortunately, there flight went down after a few test flights

People who have seen a black box, often wonder why is this box which records flight parameters etc, called a black box? No real explanation can be given, but in common sense, there is so much mysticism around this device that, people started calling it The black box. Another explanation is

that, this term came from a journalist who was referring to the FDR-CVR, as A wonderful black box, mainly as a pun intended on the new creation of a pioneer in black box technology, Dr Warren. Black box is also called as the instrument box by many people as it tracks the measurements of almost all devices of a plane. It appears like, all the instruments of a plane converge at a point, The black box! Nowadays, The black box is formally called as Flight Data Recorder-Cockpit Voice Recorder (FDR-CVR). The present FDR-CVR came through a lot of changes since the conception of the idea of a flight data recording device.

England for the Ministry of Aircraft Production. At the wars end, the Ministry got Harrison and Husband to sign over their invention to them and the Ministry patented it under a British patent. This unit was the forerunner of todays black boxes The first prototype coupled FDR-CVR designed with civilian aircraft in mind, for explicit post-crash examination purposes, was produced in 1956 by Dr. David Warren of the Defense Science and Technology Organizations Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne. In 1953 and 1954, a series of fatal accidents involving the De Havilland DH106 Comet prompted the grounding of the entire fleet pending an investigation. Dr. Warren, a chemist specializing in aircraft fuels, was involved in a professional committee discussing the possible causes. Since there had been neither witnesses nor survivors, Dr. Warren conceived of a crashsurvivable method to record the flight crew's conversation (and other pre-crash data), reasoning they would greatly assist in determining a cause and prevent avoidable accidents of the same type, in the future. Despite his 1954 report entitled "A Device for Assisting Investigation into Aircraft Accidents" and a 1957 prototype FDR called "The ARL Flight Memory Unit", aviation authorities from around the world were largely uninterested. This changed in 1958 when Sir Robert Hardingham, the Secretary of the UK Air Registration Board, visited the ARL and was introduced to Warren. The Aeronautical Research Laboratory allocated Dr. Warren an engineering team to develop the prototype to airborne stage. The team developed a working design incorporating a fire and shockproof case, a reliable system for encoding and recording aircraft instrument readings and voice on one wire, and a ground-based decoding device.

2 History
As with many successful devices, probably no single person could be credited with the invention of the flight data recorder. However, one of the earliest and proven attempts was made by Franois Hussenot and Paul Beaudouin in 1939, with their "type HB" flight recorder which was essentially a photograph-based device and remained in use in French test centers well into the seventies. However use of photographic films was discarded owing to the fact that it could not be reused and needed a periodic replacement. As such, this technology was reserved for one-shot uses, mostly during planned test flights; and it was not mounted aboard civilian aircraft during routine commercial flights. Also, the cockpit conversation was not recorded. Another form of flight data recorder was developed in England during World War II. Len Harrison and Vic Husband developed a unit that could withstand a crash and fire to keep the flight data intact. This unit used copper foil as the recording medium and recording was done using a stylus to indent the copper foil surface. The copper foil was periodically advanced at set periods of time therefore giving a history of the instruments /control settings of the aircraft. This unit was developed in Farnborough

intense fire.

Fig.2. An early form of FDR, incorporating the ARL Flight Memory Unit.

The ARL system became the "Red Egg", made by the British firm of S. Davall & Son. The "Red Egg" got its name from its' shape and bright red color. In 1960, after the crash of an aircraft at Mackay (Queensland), the inquiry judge strongly recommended that flight recorders be installed in all airliners. Australia then became the first country in the world to make cockpit-voice recording compulsory.

Fig.3. Schematic view of the position and function of a Flight data recorder

3 Black Box: The red egg

The FDR-CVR is popularly called as the black box. Contrary to the "black box" reference, the exterior of the FDR is coated with heat-resistant bright orange paint for high visibility in wreckage, and the unit is usually mounted in the aircraft's empennage (tail section), where it is more likely to survive a severe crash. This distinct color, along with the strips of reflective tape attached to the recorders' exteriors; help investigators locate the black boxes following an accident. These are especially helpful when a plane lands in the water. It is nicknamed as the The red egg because of its bright orange-red color. Due to their importance in investigating accidents, these ICAO-regulated devices are carefully engineered and stoutly constructed to withstand the force of a high speed impact and the heat of an

Following an accident, recovery of the "black boxes" is second in importance only to the rescue of survivors and recovery of human remains. Other than accident investigations, FDR-CVR serves as a predictive maintenance tool, a pilot categorization tool, an aircraft flight testing and analysis tool, flight training and feedback tool and an aircraft usage and analysis tool. Black boxes came through a lot of evolution before we see it as one of the present forms. They can be chronologically categorized into different generations. The first generation FDRs utilized a steel foil, could record around five parameters and withstand an impact of 100gs.This was followed by the second generation recorders that had a magnetic tape recorder, could record a decent number of eighteen parameters and half an hour of voice data. However, after every hundred hours of recording, recalibration was required. This paved the way for further developments and the third generation FDRs were created. This was the first kind solid state FDR, mandated by ICAO and could record thirty two parameters. It boasted of separate FDR and CVR. The CVR was capable of recording two

channels of audio data and half an hour of speech. A standard CVR today, is capable of recording four channels of audio data for a period of two hours and they are classified under the fourth and fifth generation recorders. One of the best examples of a modern day recorder is the MADRAS (Modular airborne Data Recording and Acquisition system) which will be discussed in detail in the forthcoming sections. The design of today's FDR is governed by the internationally recognized standards and recommended practices relating to flight recorders which are contained in ICAO Annex 6 which makes reference to industry crashworthiness and fire protection specifications such as those to be found in the European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment documents EUROCAE ED55, ED56 fiken A and ED112 (Minimum Operational Performance Specification for Crash Protected Airborne Recorder Systems). In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates all aspects of U.S. aviation, and cites design requirements in their Technical Standard Order, based on the EUROCAE documents (as do

the aviation authorities of many other countries).

Fig.4. Inside view (schematic) of a typical flight data recorder.

FDRs are usually located in the rear of the aircraft, typically in the tail. In this position, the entire front of the aircraft is expected to act as a "crush zone" to reduce the shock that reaches the recorder. Also, modern FDRs are typically double wrapped, in strong corrosion-resistant stainless steel or titanium, with high-temperature insulation inside. Generally, there are three structural components in a modern day FDR, namely a DAS (Data Acquisition System), a CSMU (Crash survivable memory unit) and an acoustic beacon called ULD(Underwater locator device). 3.1 DAU 3.2 CSMU In many airline accidents, the only devices that survive are the crash-survivable memory units (CSMUs) of the flight data recorders and cockpit

voice recorders. Typically, the rest of the recorders' chassis and inner components are mangled. The CSMU is a large cylinder that bolts onto the flat portion of the recorder. This device is engineered to withstand extreme heat, violent crashes and tons of pressure. In older magnetic-tape recorders, the CSMU is inside a rectangular box. To ensure the quality and survivability of black boxes, manufacturers thoroughly test the CSMUs. Remember, only the CSMU has to survive a crash -if accident investigators have that, they can retrieve the information they need. 3.3 ULD In addition to the paint and reflective tape, black boxes are equipped with an underwater locator beacon (ULB). If you look at the picture of a black box, you will almost always see a small, cylindrical object attached to one end of the device. While it doubles as a handle for carrying the black box, this cylinder is actually a beacon. If a plane crashes into the water, this beacon sends out an ultrasonic pulse that cannot be heard by human ears but is readily detectable by sonar and acoustical locating equipment. There is a submergence sensor on the side of the beacon that looks like a bull's-eye. When

water touches this sensor, it activates the beacon.

Fig.5. An Underwater Locator Device attached to FDR

The beacon sends out pulses at 37.5 kilohertz (kHz) and can transmit sound as deep as 14,000 feet (4,267 m). Once the beacon begins "pinging," it pings once per second for 30 days. This beacon is powered by a battery that has a shelf life of six years. In rare instances, the beacon may get snapped off during a high-impact collision. 3.4 Post-crash recovery In the United States, when investigators locate a black box it is transported to the computer labs at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Special care is taken in transporting these devices in order to avoid any (further) damage to the recording medium. In cases of water accidents, recorders are placed in a cooler of water to keep them from drying out. After finding the black boxes, investigators take the recorders to a lab where they can download the data from the recorders and attempt to recreate the

events of the accident. This process can take weeks or months to complete. In the United States, blackbox manufacturers supply the NTSB with the readout systems and software needed to do a full analysis of the recorders' stored data. If the FDR is not damaged, investigators can simply play it back on the recorder by connecting it to a readout system. With solid-state recorders, investigators can extract stored data in a matter of minutes. Very often, recorders retrieved from wreckage are dented or burned. In these cases, the memory boards are removed, cleaned up and a new memory interface cable is installed. Then the memory board is connected to a working recorder. This recorder has special software to facilitate the retrieval of data without the possibility of overwriting any of it. ROSE is an example of such software and it stands for Read out support equipment. It is a window based user interface for the control and access of recorder flight data. Its primary functions can be enlisted as follows: Communication with unit through CICC cable interface Database functions that defines the parameters to be downloaded Data manipulation (usage of algorithms) which employs the conversion of raw data to understandable data. Data display function Data archive and export function Database import/export Test functions Software update

a representative from the airplane manufacturer, an NTSB transportation-safety specialist and an NTSB air-safety investigator. This group may also include a language specialist from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and, if needed, an interpreter. This board attempts to interpret 30 minutes of words and sounds recorded by the CVR. This can be a painstaking process and may take weeks to complete. Both the FDR and CVR are invaluable tools for any aircraft investigation. These are often the lone survivors of airplane accidents, and as such provide important clues to the cause that would be impossible to obtain any other way. As technology evolves, black boxes will continue to play a tremendous role in accident investigations.

4 MADRAS
RAU (ROSE Analysis Unit) is a portable line tester with ROSE Software included. The RAU supports on-aircraft real time evaluation of parameters or retrieval of flight recorder data.

Fig.5. A Portable interface unit used to read typical Flight data recorders

A team of experts is usually brought in to interpret the recordings stored on a CVR. This group typically includes a representative from the airline,

Read out centre utilizes ROSE software for data analysis, recorder maintenance and testing. Includes

a computer with Windows Software, interface cables to/from SSFDR, and Rose Software License.

5 Black boxes making history

As we know, black boxes were designed to sustain crashes and recover the last few minutes of flight data so that it could help us in preventing such accidents in the future. And, so they have served their purposes. Here, we will brief about a few incidents 5.1 Flight 812 Recently, in May 2010 an Air India Express Boeing 737 overshot the Mangalore runway, and crashed into the valley out of the airport perimeter. There were only 8 survivors. The CVR was recovered from the debris, the next day, and the FDR was recovered after a few days. The final report of the investigation is not out yet, but, some reports say that it was partly the pilots error, and they could confirm this only from the CVR of the flight. They could also confirm that there was a tire burst and pilots had attempted for a go-around procedure before the flight crash. All this valuable information could only be recovered using the FDR of the flight. 5.2 Flight 447 This is also a recent event, which occurred in June 2009. An Air France flight, Paris bound disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean killing all the people on the plane. This flight crash is particularly important because people were not able to recover the black box of this plane to this day. No one knows what exactly happened except for a few stress messages from the pilot to the ATC. There were no witnesses, nor survivors. This case helps us to know the actual importance of the black box. 5.3 1996 Mid-air collision

This incident took place in evening of 12 November 1996. This incident is of particular importance because, this is one of the incidents which highlighted the need of a flight data recorder. The data in the black boxes helped to find out the cause of the crash between two flights, mid-air, namely, Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763 and the Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907. As the cause was precisely found out, it led to upgrading of the airport facilities at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. Installation of Secondary surveillance radar was made mandatory at all airports, and also, installation of ACAS (Airborne Collision Avoidance System) was made mandatory on all airplanes.

6 Future Variants
The black boxes have served a lot of purpose in recovering flight data of a crashed flight and helping us to find out the reason of the crash and thereby allowing us to prevent such crashes. But, as we pointed out there are a few cases in which, the black boxes were destroyed completely, or charred up so much that flight data could not be retrieved. The main reason it couldnt be recovered is because the FDR would be part of the flight wreckage most of the times. We are already taking sufficient measures in protecting the FDR-CVR by placing the unit in the tail wing portion of the fuselage, so that the fuselage takes up most part of the crash impact before hitting the tail section. But, even this doesnt help us in case of high speed collisions or increased exposure to fire. As a solution to this, we can install self-ejecting FDR modules which fall far away from the debris in case of an accident. The kinetic energy of the impact can be used for propelling the device out of the tail section of the air plane. Normally, all the present FDRs have one Underwater Locating Device (ULD) used to recover black boxes from under water, which basically work on the principle of SONAR. In the future, we can use Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacon

which operates on the principle of RADAR, as Radio Signals have a very long range. And so, the black boxes can be recovered from remote areas. Nowadays we are using UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in a lot of applications, like UAV Drones, UAV Recons etc. and they use a very safe link to the remote controller for controlling the flight. And, the links are so secure that the link remains even if the UAV crashes. We can probably use these kinds of new technologies to relay flight information onthe-go. This method will be very safe because, there is no need for recovering a black box in the case of an accident. All the data will be recorded somewhere in a remote recording centre. The black box was created exclusively for air planes, because we used to see a lot of deadly accidents in the pre-modern era of aviation history. Nowadays, flights have become so safe that recent studies reveal that, in a developed country, more people die of road accidents than air crashes. Moreover, road vehicles have also got complex during these days, with accessories Anti lock Braking System, Traction control etc. Many parameters play a role in driving a vehicle safely. We can probably use such vehicle data recording units installed which are crash survivable, to see what exactly went wrong in the vehicle crashes, and quite assumingly help prevent future such accidents.