As the relatives of crash victims troop to Ethiopia for body identification purposes, a team of detectives are piecing up what may have caused the crash and the reactions from inside.
The black box is made up of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR). It is engineered with sophisticated technology that allows it to withstand very high pressure and temperatures.
It also has a beacon that fires signals to investigators if it comes in contact with water. This comes very handy in cases where a plane crashes in the ocean and the wreckage sinks to the bottom.
Black boxes are located at the rear of the plane as this area is presumed to suffer less damage during a crash and thus can keep data safe.
Flight Voice Recorder (FVR)
Conversation in cockpit Investigators will be able to listen in to what the pilots said to each other before and during the crash.
The conversation will paint a picture of what the crew saw and how they reacted. The pilot’s voices will also be key in establishing whether they were tired. This can be picked from sounds like yawning.
Alarm
Automatic alerts from various alarms in the cockpit will also be heard.
They will reveal what on board computers were informing the pilots and also lead to establishing if the crew responded appropriately.
Engine power
Though the CVR captures audio from the cockpit and part of the cabin, it also picks sound from the engines.
By listening to the engines, investigators will be able to know whether they were running normally.
They will also be able to establish if the engines were producing enough thrust to throttle the plane.
Flight Data Recorder (FDR)
The data recorder captures information generated from hundreds of sensors and stores it on an electronic chip.
After recovery, this information can be downloaded on a computer then fed to a flight simulator to recreate the flight.
Inside the simulator, investigators will hear and also experience everything that played in the ill fated fight.
The FDR will provide the following information:
Speed
It will give investigators a blow by blow account of rate at which the air-plane travelled for the approximated six minutes it was airborne.
Also, they will know whether the plane was flying too slow thus causing it to stall or whether it was overspending leading it to spiral out of control.
Altitude
This is how high the plane climbed before it crashed. In case the plane climbed too high within unreasonably short time, then fingers may be directed to overspending.
Thrust
Thrust is the force generated by engines to propel a plane.
By studying it, it will be easy to tell whether the engines failed thus leaving the plane without lift or whether it hit the ground with engines running.