Why are airplane black boxes kept in water?

To record data in extreme situations, the black boxes resist extreme temperatures in case of fire and being submerged as deep as 6,000 metres into the water. > In case the plane crashes into the water, an underwater beacon will send out pulses which can be detected by an audio equipment.



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Question: Why, after a plane has crashed into the water, do investigators put the black box back in water? – Will Cowger, Houston. Answer: If a flight data recorder is recovered from the water, it is submerged in fresh, clean water to prevent deposits such as salt or minerals from drying out within the device.

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Passenger planes' black boxes are able to send signals under the sea for 90 days. The black boxes, weighing an average of 5 kilos, activated as soon as they interact with the water and start sending signals. So any team looking for the location of a plane crash can even find it under the sea.

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Flight recorders are designed to survive both high-speed impact and post-impact fire. They are, however, not invulnerable and are sometimes destroyed. The recorder is designed to ensure that data, rather than the recorder itself, survives an accident.

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Flight recorders are normally located near the aircraft's tail, as experience has shown that this area generally suffers the least damage during an accident. Flight recorders are designed to survive both high-speed impact and post-impact fire. They are, however, not invulnerable and are sometimes destroyed.

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The black box's orange exterior typically sports reflective decals and the command “do not open.” It can be opened, but doing so is left to authorities independent of the airlines, to ensure the memory is not compromised.

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GPS and other tracking devices make it much easier to know where a plane is if it crashes over land. For that reason, the black box does not emit a signal and relies on it being discovered by investigators.

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An aircraft actually has two black boxes. One is a flight data recorder, which stores information on specific parameters such as flight control and engine performance. The second is a cockpit voice recorder, which records background sound and conversations between crew members and air traffic control.

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Most people refer to flight data recorders as “black boxes.” “Black boxes” are, in fact, a fluorescent orange color.

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