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Contrary to claims by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) that it would take up to two years to decode the black box of the ill-fated Dana Air MD 83 aircraft, LEADERSHIP checks have shown that the content of the box could take as short as between one week to one month to decode.
The AIB said on Monday that the preliminary investigation report into the crashed Dana Air MD 83 aircraft at Iju Ishaga, Lagos may be released within the next six months while the main report will take between 18 to 24 months before it is made public.
However, LEADERSHIP checks also revealed that the report could be ready within one month.
LEADERSHIP found out that the black box recordings from the Air France Flight 447, were analysed within a month of finding despite that it remained under water for two years. The Air France Flight 447, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people who were on board. The black box was not found until 2011, a team led by France’s Inquisition and Analysis Bureau (BEA) used a submersible robotic vehicle, Phoenix International’s Remora 6000, to recover the flight data recorder or ‘black box’ yet it was decoded within a month of finding while full analysis was achieved in three months.
Engineers at British Airlines, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said it depended on the condition of the black box. If it was severely damaged, it could take longer to get the report.
“Decoding the black box depends on the condition the black box is found. It could take a week to one month depending on the condition of the box and flight decoder.”
Cockpit voice recorders are one type of flight recorder. As the name implies, cockpit voice recorders are located in the cockpit of an aircraft. They record at least 30 minutes of audio from the cockpit. This recording might include crew conversation, alarms, noise from the engine and other audible feedback.
According to online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, a flight recorder is a device placed in aircraft that records data that might be helpful in determining the circumstances surrounding a crash. Many aircraft have two devices: a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder. Flight recorder often is referred to as “black box” even though they usually are painted bright orange.
Cockpit voice recorders are one type of flight recorder. As the name implies, cockpit voice recorders are located in the cockpit of an aircraft. They record at least 30 minutes of audio from the cockpit. This recording might include crew conversation, alarms, noise from the engine and other audible feedback.
A survey of major plane crashes globally indicated that the black box of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash in Indonesia was decoded within one week. The Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ) plane crashed in Indonesia on May 9, 2012, killing 45 people.
Also, the black box of the Polish Presidential plane that crashed in April 2010, was decoded within one week after the crash.
It took one month to decode the black box of the ill-fated Bhoja airliner which crashed in April 2012 even though the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Islamabad earlier said it would take between “three months to one year”.
Crashes involving deep water or that were so terrible that a flight recorder was smashed to pieces led manufacturers to develop recorders that could be self-ejected during a crash. Some even make use of sonar or radio technology to help investigators locate the recorder.
This has made it easier to find out what happened in a variety of crashes.
Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, AIB’s Head Public Affairs, who insisted that the global average time for investigating accidents was between 18 to 24 said this time frame, could be more or less.
He said there are so many things involved in investigating accidents globally.
“Accident investigation is a detailed, cumbersome process. When an accident happens, you cannot predict what you will be confronted with. It is not easy to say this is the problem,” he said.
