U.S. Ends Air France Black Box Search

(AP)  An American colonel says two ships searching for the black boxes of Air France Flight 447 are ending their hunt.

A French nuclear submarine is continuing to look.

U.S. Air Force Col. Willie Berges is the Brazil-based commander of American military forces supporting the effort. He says one ship towing a U.S. Navy listening device stopped searching Friday.

He says the other ship towing a device will end its search within hours.

Berges says the ships had "no success."

Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil's northeastern coast June 1. All 228 people aboard died.

Investigators say without the black boxes, it may be impossible to know for certain what caused the crash.

[sylevine1]

The Black Box Data Is Needed In Real-Time To Prevent Disasters

For the last ten years there hasn?t been a technical reason why the digital flight recorder data isn't securely sent in real-time to the ground for storage (see the BBC/Equinox video ?The BOX?, 4/2000, A look at the shortcomings found in black box flight recorders). During this ten year interval both the US and Europe have had the capability of implementing remote aircraft flight recording if only they had the will to do so. Using a remote aircraft flight recorder, within a couple of seconds, you have the planes position/location, its attitude, velocity, etc. safely stored on the ground and used for flight safety, aviation security and cost reduction. The data used in real-time could have also prevented 9/11 (see http://www.safelander.com).

On June 4, 2009 the Los Angeles Times put following information that I wrote into their LETTERS section: ?There is no technical reason why digital flight recorder data are not sent in real-time to the ground. We have the technology to do this. Then, within a couple of seconds, we would have a plane?s position, altitude and velocity safely stored on the ground. This information could be used for flight safety, aviation security and cost reduction. We don?t know what went wrong on Air France Flight 447, but we would sure know where the plane went down, why it went down and possibly could have saved lives.? Getting to the crash site early may save lives, getting the DFDR can prevent recurring fatal crashes. It?s not just position that?s needed, it?s all of the data sent to the recorder that is critical to ascertaining the root cause of a crash and should be available to prevent some of the crashes from occurring.

The real-time use of the data recorders will save a substantial amount of lives, make our country safer and reduce the cost of flying. Telemetering the already digitized flight data to the ground in real-time would assure that we have the data. In some crashes the flight data isn't recovered (e.g. 9/11, et al) or has errors in it since no one is looking at it, or using it in real-time to find malfunctions. Yet, this valuable digital flight recorder data (DFDR) data has been essentially left to the autopsy mode for post mortem simulations and not utilized proactively in real-time to save lives on cargo and carrier aircraft. We got the astronauts back from the moon by ground personnel monitoring the data in real-time. It was the ground personnel that found the problem and relayed back to the capsule the safe solution that saved the astronauts lives. It is now time to utilize this proven methodology for the good of the public.

A year prior to 9/11 at the International Aviation Safety Association meeting in New York, methods for preventing crashes like golfer Payne Stewart?s decompression crash were proposed. None of these methods were implemented by the aviation industry and we got 9/11 (hijacking is about ten percent of aviation fatalities) and the 2005, 100 fatality, Helios decompression crash. When a plane deviates from its approved flight plan, we now have the ability to securely take remote control of it and land it safely at a designated airfield. We presently have remote pilot vehicles (RPVs) flying over Afghanistan that are controlled/piloted from continental United States (CONUS). Currently we are utilizing secure high bandwidth communication networks (for our RPVs, submarines, AWACS planes, etc.) and there isn't a logical reason for not making that technology available for cargo and carrier aircraft. The cost of 9/11 alone is ten times the cost of putting in a safe system and yet nothing has intentionally been done.


The Air France flight 447 crash is just the latest example of horrific crashes that possibly could have been prevented or saved lives. Using the Black Box data safely stored on the ground we surely would be able to minimize the anguish of the passenger?s families and recurring crashes. Ground storage eliminates the cost, time and risks associated with recorder recovery. The flight data used in real-time: reduces the cost of flying; prevents recurring fatal crashes; prevents a host of fatal crashes that aren?t directly related to Air France Flight 447, and keeps nations safe and secure. For the good of nation and its citizens, not only the flying public, we must utilize the Black Box data in real time.

Sy Levine

[e-mail]

[phone]

[e-mail]
http://www.safelander.com
Remote Aircraft Flight Recorder and Advisory System (RAFT) patent #5,890,079, 3/30/1999

[kernel_]

An alternative to real time transmission is a voice and data recorder that ejects from the aircraft. The ejection package floats. Whether ejected over land or water the package emits locator signals. Voice and data recorder systems like this are already developed and in use. These systems cost more than the current system and are prohibitively expensive to retrofit.

[rrozsa]

At what point would it eject? If it doesn't eject before the crash, then is it a manual operation by the pilot? I'm sure he is busy up until the final instant of the crash or explosion, trying to save the aircraft. I do like the idea of encasing it in a floatable substance, if it isn't already; however, it still could become trapped within the wreckage and sink to the bottom whether it is made to float or not.

[bobnjersey]

[Investigators say without the black boxes, it may be impossible to know for certain what caused the crash. ]

seems like it's time for a change to the way these things actually work. why isn't all this data transmitted during flight to ground stations real time that can archive the data? it can still keep recording locally to the box itself as a redundant method.

don't say this isn't possible ... it can only be a choice not to do it this way ... and it's almost certainly tied to money.

[rrozsa]

Isn't everything ultimately tied to money, where government and industry are concerned?

[cs4466]

Uh. Why is the USA looking for an Air France black box. Shouldn't France be doing that?

[rrozsa]

You're kidding, right? Countries do still assist each other from time to time when they can. That's one of the purposes of the UN. That's how we got into the Iraq war -- Saddam violated the UN directives by not allowing inspectors into his country as agreed on after he invaded Kuwait.

We (the US) are not an island unto ourselves, although many Americans are increasingly embracing a more isolationist philosophy. Sounds like maybe you are one of them? I am too, to some extent, but not when it comes to using our technology for something like this.