Flight Data Recorder

Flight Data Recorder

Abstract

I intend to inform you on the flight data recorder, the history and its purpose. Flight data recorders are an essential tool in aircraft accident investigations. With the flight data recorder an inspector can learn a lot about the condition of the aircraft before the accident. The flight data recorder is mandated by the FAA to be installed on all modern civil aircrafts. There has been three generations of flight data recorders that offer improvements of data recording that the prior generation could not record. The future holds grounds for even more improvements that will be able to survive any accident with hours of recorded flight data.

Flight Data Recorders (FDR) may arguably be one those greatest innovated safety tools that the aviation industry has developed. “The purpose of a FDR system is to collect and record data from a variety of airplane sensors onto a medium to survive an accident” (Skybrary, 2013). The FDR has been used in hundreds, if not thousands, of aviation accidents. When a major and often fatal aircraft accident occurs, an investigator will often find their selves arriving to a pile of smoldering debris. Some of the most vital clues for an investigation can be destroyed in an accident leaving the investigator trying to piece together a conclusion from the salvageable items and statements from witness of the accident. The FDR can give the inspector a great understanding of what the aircraft was experiencing before the unfortunate crash by recording 25 hours of flight data. With this knowledge, they will establish a visualization of the conditions of the aircraft prior to the crash and how the pilots may have responded during the events that lead to the crash. Having this information gives the investigator the opportunity to develop effect safety measures to help prevent future accidents of the same nature.

First generation FDR’s were “foil recorders” made of Incanol Steel and where introduced...