What Is A Black Box And How It Can Help In IAF Helicopter Crash Investigation?

Indian Air Force has begun a tri-service inquiry regarding the crashed Mi-17V5 aircraft in which CDS General Bipin Rawat died. Air Marshal Manvendra Singh will take the lead in the investigation that mainly revolves around a black box found from the site.

They will be examining all the flight parameters and establishments where the black box was built, assembled, and serviced. It is so because the black box is the main electronic component of any aircraft that records important data such as airspeed, height, cockpit conversation, and other factors.

This gives valuable information especially at the times whenever any aircraft or plane meets an accident. What made it a central part of the investigation is the robust design and marvelous feature of Mi-17V5 aircraft.

Black Box- What Is It And How Does It Work?

It was used to be black in color earlier that’s how it got the name. But modern versions are painted bright orange to locate them easily in case of unfortunate events. The Black box does not get destroyed easily as it is made of stainless steel and can withstand 1000 degrees temperature.

It also has an underwater location beacon for easy tracing under the water. The device weighs 10 pounds approx and is tested multiple times before being used.

Parameters On Which Black Box IsTested

There is a crash survivable memory unit inside the box which is the only one that undergoes strict testing.

1. Crash Impact- A force equal to 3,400 GS is used to test the surviving ability of the black box
2. Pin Drop- This checks the penetration resistance of the unit
3. Static crush-  Around 5000 pounds psi is applied on the 6 different areas of the unit to check its strength
4. Fluid immersion-  Components of CSMU are put inside the different types of fluids used in aviation in this test
5. Fire test- The entire unit is tested for its fire resistance at higher temperatures for which the CSMU is put into a fireball. Temperature is around 2000 degrees F and the duration for which it is kept is at least one hour.
6. Deep-Sea and Salt-Water immersion are the two more tests that it undergoes. These are the test of the longest duration (around 30 days).

Also Read: What Caused IAF Helicopter ‘Mi-17 V5’ Crash And Death Of General Bipin Rawat?

Working Of A Black Box In Helicopter

<figcaption class="pl-caption>via:dw

Earlier, magnetic tape was used to record the aircraft’s operation and vital information. They were able to record around 100 parameters but were lagging in terms of reliability. Modern airplanes have solid-state memory boards in the black box which require less maintenance.

These boards also have high storage capacity and can save up to 25 hours of audio data from Flight data recorders and Cockpit voice recorders.

These two are the vital components in an airplane and contain sensors and microphones for data accumulation. Only experts can retrieve and interpret the data from a black box upon surviving an accident.