ORANGE, NOT BLACK
They’re commonly called black boxes, but the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder are actually orange – so they can be more easily seen. The data recorder logs performance and other metrics, including speed, altitude and direction. In all, it can keep 1,000 different measurements, giving investigators a rich cache of information. Those measurements cover the 25 hours prior to a crash. The voice recorder captures two hours of sound from several microphones in the cockpit. It runs on a continuous loop, so audio from the critical moments during which the plane diverted west from its Malaysia-China route – about seven hours before it is believed to have crashed – have been erased.
RACING TIME
Each recorder has its own beacon, bolted to the box’s outside, which once activated by water emits a chirp every second. The chirp can’t be heard by the naked ear – it requires special equipment to detect. A beacon’s battery is designed to last 30 days. Once that month is up, the pings begin to fade in the same way that a flashlight with failing batteries begins to dim. According to Chuck Schofield of Dukane Seacom Inc., a company which has sold pingers to Malaysia Airlines, the batteries might “reliably” give five extra days before dying. The specific length depends on factors including maintenance and temperature (batteries like cold better than hot). Authorities believe the plane crashed March 8. So the pingers would begin to fade around April 7, and could go silent around April 12.
The U.S. Navy on Wednesday deployed a Towed Pinger Locator, a device that’s pulled behind a vessel at slow speeds, and an unmanned underwater vehicle to Perth in western Australia. The equipment will be fitted to an Australian vessel, which according to Malaysia is expected to reach the search area April 5.