Paris: The Airbus A350 and A380 passengers jets will soon come equipped with ejectable black boxes that can float, making them easier to find in an air crash at sea, aviation sources said.
“At the end of last year Airbus got the green light from EASA (European Air Security Agency) to work on the necessary modifications to its planes in order to install these new black boxes in the rear of the planes,” one of the sources said.
The technology, which has already been approved for military aircraft, has not been used in civil aviation. In recent years passenger jets have crashed into the ocean raising the need for new technology to help find the black boxes. These recorders are critical in air crash investigations as they provide information on how the planes were operating and the conversations of the pilots. “The idea is to modify the black boxes so that each one records the flight details and (cockpit) conversations. One would be ejectable, the other not,” a source close to Airbus explained.
An ejectable box would be equipped with an airbag so it could float on the surface of the water in the event of a crash at sea. It would also help to indicate the exact point of impact at the time of the crash and to find the wreckage. AFP
