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 Anatomy of a black box infographic
Graphic shows details of Honeywell ED-55 Flight Data Recording System installed on Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.
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AVIATION

Anatomy of a black box

By Duncan Mil

March 12, 2014 - The mystery of what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 lies in the plane's data recorders. Commercial aircraft carry two so-called black boxes. While they do nothing to help the plane in flight, they are vitally important to accident investigators in the aftermath of a plane crash.

Flight data recorders, which are actually orange in colour, are designed to endure the high impact of a plane crash, the pressures of the deep sea and the high and low temperatures of fire and ice. They keep a 25-hour record of audio, radio, and flight sensor data.

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PUBLISHED: 12/03/2014; STORY: Graphic News
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