Category Aviation

What happens to the black box when a plane crashes?

When a plane crashes, the investigators search for the black boxes to determine the cause for the accident.

Recently, a plane crashed just before landing in Nepal’s tourist city of Pokhara. To investigate the reason for the crash, the authorities soon rushed to the spot to search for black boxes. Do you know what they are?

Black boxes

Black boxes are large metallic boxes containing recorders kept on most aircraft, one in the front and the other in the back. They help in establishing legal liability and identifying causes of the accident and, hence, help prevent adverse incidents in the future.

Features

Black boxes are usually referred to by aviation experts as electronic flight data recorders. Though these boxes are known as black boxes, they are painted in highly visible vermilion colour known as “international orange”. The colour helps the crew at the crash site search for the black boxes.

Flight recorders consist of two functional devices the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Sometimes these devices are packaged in one combined unit. Digital recorders have enough storage for 25 hours of flight data but only two hours of cockpit voice recording, which is recorded over itself in a loop.

 FDRs are usually double-wrapped in titanium or stainless steel, and, hence, can withstand harsh conditions. Besides, the flight recorders have crash survivable memory unit (CSMU) wherein a memory chip stores data to allow recovery of data from wreckage.

Every flight data recorder has a tool called an underwater location beacon (ULB), which makes it possible for  investigators to find it if a plane crashes into a body of water.

While black boxes are virtually indestructable, planes are not made of the same material.

Building the entire plane out of the black box would make it too heavy to fly.

FDR

The FDR records more than 80 different types of information such as altitude, airspeed, flight heading, vertical acceleration, pitch, roll, autopilot status, etc. They are commonly carried in the tail of the aircraft, which is usually the part that is least affected in the event of a crash.

CVR

The CVR, kept in the front, records radio transmissions and other sounds in the cockpit, such as conversations between the pilots, and engine noises.

Besides, aircraft sounds audible in the cockpit are also caught on the recorder.

History

In 1939, French engineers François Hussenot and Paul Beaudouin invented a flight recorder, which could record altitude and speed information on a piece of photographic film.

During World War II, analysing crashes of military aircraft became important. As civil aviation developed in the years after World War II, “crash-survivable” flight recorders began to be developed.

An Australian scientist, David Warren designed the first combined FDR and CVR. During the 1960s, crash-protected FDRS and CVRS became mandatory on aircraft around the world. Australia was the first country to make black boxes mandatory.

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How much impact does aviation have on climate change is it the most polluting form of travel?

The impact of flying on climate change has been well established. On average, the aviation industry generates about 1 billion tons of CO2 worldwide every year. This number is comparable to that of Japan, which is the world’s third largest economy.

Add to this the fact that global emissions from flights have been increasing at the rate of 2.5% every year. In fact, over the next 30 years, the aviation industry will likely produce more CO2 than that of its whole history!

Radical solutions required

Even though fossil fuels are increasingly being replaced by renewable energy sources in power generation and electric vehicles continue to grow into a bigger market, there hasn’t been enough done to address pollution from aircraft. In such a climate, the need is for bold, radical solutions. Researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy have called for the same through a new commentary article that appeared in Nature in September.

The authors suggest that the two most commonly proposed solutions-carbon offsetting and cleaner fuels – are rather inadequate. While offsetting falls flat owing to poor accountability, cleaner fuels can’t yet be produced sustainably in large volume and low costs to replace all jet fuel. Additionally, these two solutions do not address the dimate impact of contrails-clouds produced by aircraft engine edhaust – that can trap heat radiating from the Earth’s surface.

Three steps

To address a warming planet, the authors suggest three steps for the industry as a whole. Firstly, they recommend the industry and various governments to work together to be more aware of the risks involved and the role that aviation plays in the dimate crisis.

Next up, they wish for collaborations between the most motivated governments and firms to take risks on new technologies, which could then inspire others to follow their lead. The authors only provide examples such as a partnership between the Norwegian government and businesses to create electric airplanes, but also lay out strategies of how collaborations could be used to ignite other advances.

Finally, they stress the importance of research, not just to better understand contrails and chemical interactions in the atmosphere, but also to provide solutions. They envision these solutions to not just be technological, but also economic and political, thereby providing for a greener future.

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Which is the busiest airport in India?

The Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is located in New Delhi, is the busiest airport in India and the 12th busiest airport in the world. It is also the second busiest airport in the world as per seating capacity, with a seating capacity of 3,611,181 seats. It was named the busiest airport in Asia in terms of passenger traffic with around 37.14 million passengers in 2021.

Although it was initially administered by the Indian Air Force, airport operations were later transferred to the Airports Authority of India. It was officially renamed as Indira Gandhi International Airport in May, 1986. The management of the airport was passed over to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a consortium headed by the GMR Group in May, 2006.

According to a survey by Airports Council International, it was rated as the Best Airport in the World in the 25-40 million passengers category in the year 2015. The airport has also received accolades like “The Best Airport in Central Asia” and “Best Airport Staff in Central Asia” at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2015. The Delhi airport and Mumbai airport were together honoured with the recognition, “World’s Best Airport” at the Airport Service Quality Awards 2017, under highest category of airports that manage above 40 million passengers every year.

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Who is the youngest person to fly solo around the world?

The 17-year-old landed at an airfield near the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the same site from which he departed in his shark Aero microlight airplane on March 23.

Along the way, Mack, who was born to British parents but has grown up in Belgium, encountered sandstorms in Sudan and spent the night on an uninhabited Pacific island.

Rutherford’s journey took longer than planned due to permit delays that forced him to alter his route twice and fly over Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, North America, and back to Europe. Rutherford became the youngest person to fly around the world solo, taking the title from Travis Ludlow, who was 18 when he completed his journey last year.

He is now also the youngest person to fly around the world in a microlight aircraft, the title held previously by sister Zara, who completed her own trip around the globe in January this year.

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What makes King Fahd International Airport special?

Named after the former King of Saudi Arabia Fahd ibn Abdulaziz, the King Fahd International Airport of Saudi Arabia is the largest airport in the world in terms of area. The area of the entire airport property is approximately 776 square kilometres, with an airport building of around m². Situated 31 km away from the city, the airport has three terminal buildings.

It was the U.S. airbase during the Gulf War, but now it oversees commercial operations since 28 November 1999 and has been able to provide connections to 43 destinations. Before the King Fahd International Airport came into existence, the primary airport serving the region was the Dhahran International Airport. It was extremely busy then, but now it has been assigned for military use and is now known as the King Abdulaziz Air Base. The Dammam Airports Company, also known as DACO, has been operating and managing the King Fahd International Airport since July 1, 2017.

It is the third largest airport in the kingdom in terms of passenger volume, that is, more than 10 million passengers use King Airport every year.

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Which is the world’s shortest flight?

You might have heard about the longest flight. But what about the shortest flight? It could very well take you longer to read this story than to complete a ride on the world’s shortest passenger flight.

Scottish regional airline – Loganair flight LM711 – holds the title of being the world’s shortest regular commercial flight connecting two of the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Covering a distance of 1.7 miles in less than two minutes, it is a regular commercial flight connecting two of the Orkney Islands of Scotland.

According to Guinness World Records, the little aircraft covers a total distance of 1.7 miles, which is almost the same length as the runway at Edinburgh Airport, in about 90 seconds. However, it can take less than 53 seconds on a good day. It is flown by a single pilot and has seating for eight passengers. There are no in-flight facilities so if you need the toilet you have to control the urge.

The flight has been operating since 1967. In 2016, it honoured its millionth flier – Anne Randall, a Royal Bank of Scotland banker.

Every day, the flight makes two to three trips from Westray, an island on the edge of the Orkney archipelago, to a smaller remote island of Papa Westray.

The two-minute flight is the lifeline for residents of the four-square-mile island. Besides, it is also popular with travellers as every year during summer tourists throng the island to discover Papa Westray and experience the plane ride.

For the two-minute ride, you need to reach Kirkwall, the capital of Orkney, and take about a quarter-hour-long flight to Westray. The cost of a one-way ticket is around $22. The alternative to the shortest flight is a rocky boat ride that can take around 20 minutes. There are no in-flight facilities in this 90-second flight for eight passengers flown by a single pilot.

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