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MuForceShoelace t1_itqqcqg wrote

is that all? I feel like any plane crash would be at 310mph at least

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incapable1337 t1_itquub0 wrote

Well yes, but the plane is also a very handy crumple zone for the flight recorder.

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Brandon432 t1_itqvu39 wrote

The ground is also going to crumble, even if it’s concrete

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rigorousthinker t1_itqzh9z wrote

I wouldn’t be surprised if the flight recorder itself was surrounded by some impact-absorbing material, like an air bag or foam material.

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KTKloss t1_itrvcd6 wrote

The orange box isnt, its just mounted in the plane. If there was one, I havent seen it. Internally it could be somewhat cushioned.

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Fakenamefreddy t1_itrw4pi wrote

It’s not it’s typically installed in the tail. The only part that’s typically hardened is the storage, the electrical interface is designed to be changed out. In the pictures fdr the orange cylinder is mass storage which the transponder is attached the silver cylinder. The rest of it is trash in a crash.

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getmybehindsatan t1_ittdcbh wrote

The memory storage is surrounded by foam, but its main purpose is as heat insulation if there is a fire.

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jimflaigle t1_itsbqmx wrote

Some of the passengers will probably absorb the energy as well.

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Citysurvivor t1_itqy8w3 wrote

Not really. Most accidents happen near the ground, rather unsurprisingly, where the planes are going (relatively) slow because they intend to land or are only just starting to pick up speed to take off. Not to mention the speed limits set by law when operating near airports and at low altitudes.

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surgingchaos t1_itr3733 wrote

This. I love watching and reading about air crash investigations and this is one of the things that they like to stress: most of the accidents happen shortly after takeoff or just before landing. This includes both fatal and non-fatal accidents. The kinds of accidents that happen when a plane suddenly falls from the sky while at cruising altitude are pretty rare.

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southernwx t1_itr4ekf wrote

Well, even with those, the impacts are still when aircraft is landing :D

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threwzsa t1_itrh078 wrote

I studied aircraft accident investigation in college. Fun fact, you can tell if a fire occurred on post crash or in mid air by analyzing which metals have melted and cross referencing their melting points to fire temperatures. Fires burn much hotter in air because the constant flow of oxygen.

Another fun fact. In prop airplanes you can tell if the engines were running at high speed vs if they running on low power based off the way the props are bent. If they are bent forwards then they were running at high speed at the time of impact and if they are bent backwards towards the aircraft then they were running at low speed.

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kaotate t1_itrin2e wrote

Black Box Down is the podcast for you.

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theorange1990 t1_itqy9lp wrote

That doesn't matter, it matters what the impact velocity of the record is, which will be reduced due to the plane crumpling.

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zJordan t1_its28ae wrote

If they were at full speed sure, but when planes are engineless (most planes crash when they have no thrust at all), I suspect the speed they touch the ground is very slow as they just lose lift entirely due to lack of speed.

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