And I Alone Survived

This article focuses on the black box that is becoming smaller, smarter, and more useful as a safety tool in the aviation sector. Although endurance regulations have gone virtually unchanged for several years since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first required the units on all commercial aircraft, the most notable has been the advent of digital recording technology. Digital recorders can record more parameters over longer periods of time using less energy than older magnetic tape recordings. Today, this kind of information is used not only to investigate an aviation accident, but to increase the safety of flying at a time when air traffic has grown significantly. The FAA is conducting a FOQA Demonstration Study in cooperation with major U.S. airlines. Based on digital flight data recordings, the study provided information on items such as unusual autopilot disconnects excessive rotation rates on takeoff, unstabilized approaches, and hard landings.