iPods to be Used as Flight Data Recorders

udamahan writes "Flight Global reports small aircraft manufacturer LoPresti is introducing a system that uses an iPod as a flight data recorder. The company states that they chose the iPod for its size, low power requirements, and the 'thousands of developers passionate about writing applications for the iPod.' The article notes that data recorders are typically used for maintenance, flight/safety analysis, or, assuming proper protection, crash investigation."

Shocking...

[arlo5724]

Hmmm, not so sure if I like the sounds of this. I broke an iPod by dropping it about 4 feet, I can only imagine how one will fare after plummeting 30,000...

Re:Wow.

[John Pfeiffer]

Drops out of your pocket? The damned things break if you drop it IN your pocket!

In other news...

[MrNaz]

A commercial airliner has crashed killing all 182 passengers on board as well as 8 flight crew. Investigators have recovered 191 flight recorders.

OMG NAME!

[Konster]

The name of the product...

Airpod.

A whole new meaning...

[iliketrash]

This brings a whole new meaning to a "disk crash."

And then!

[Konster]

Flight International is doing a similar thing, but with the Zune, it crashes before the plane does!

Re:Shocking...

[JonathanR]

And since most "black box" flight recorders are actually bright orange, it makes one wonder what colour they'll choose.

Re:Shocking...

[Konster]

Just throw it out of the plane before it crashes, no need to worry about fire then.

Worse still

[MountainMan101]

After an accident there will be many people who need to investigate the flight data. How problematic is it going to be that they will only be able to put the data on five computers?

Re:Shocking...

[imdx80]

and now the new shuffles make sense

FAA Regs

[scatters]

So, will they have to be turned off during the takeoff and landing phases of the flight per FAA AC 91.21. Seems like these are the most useful phases of the flight to record.
I can just image it: "At this time the cabin crew would like to remind the flight crew to turn off the flight recorder. We'll let you know when we reach cruising altitide and it is safe to turn the device back on".

Before anyone feels the need to inform me that Advisory Circulars are not the same as FAA regulations, I know already!

Re:OMG NAME!

[deathcow]

I prefer "iDead"

Re:Shocking...

[jimmydevice]

I think most pre-"air accident victims" are too busy doing the "life flashing before their eyes" thing to remember to save the data for the FAA's post crash analysis. Most programmers have problems doing backups after a 3 day coding marathon when all they're thinking of is beer and sleep.

Re:It won't break

[2meen]

But what if that part of the plane ends up on the other side of the island?

Re:Shocking...

[Gordonjcp]

If you can get your single-engine piston aircraft to 30,000 feet, you're doing well. If you ran into problems, you'd have time to phone in the flight data recorder information before you hit the ground...

Re:Shocking...

[Travoltus]

"Can you hear me now? Goo-*Crash*"

Sorry, airline accident victims...

See

[mastershake_phd]

Harrison Ford had it right, the Ipod can be used for data storage. Hollywood hacker movies are right again. One of these days someones going to hack the Gibson.....as soon as they build the Gibson.

I can see it coming:

[Anonymous Coward]

Four FAA-investigators, putting on an earnest face, leaning over an orange Ipod Shuffle
connected to highly professional audio Monitors:

(Ipod-Voice from Loudspeaker) "Hello, dear audience..."
(Ipod-Voice from Loudspeaker) "...this time I will replay the in-flight data for...."

intense shuffling, investigators are putting in a frown

(Ipod-Voice from Loudspeaker) "...cabin air moisture!"

(FAA agent 1) "No, not again!"
(FAA agent 2) "Who`s going for lunch? I`m sooo bored!"

Re:Wow.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Black Boxes" are made to survive all kinds of unbelievable crashes, impacts, fires, explosions, etc..

Why don't they make the plane out of the same material as the black boxes? Problem solved. You can now use the iPod for your music and videos.

I can see the headlines now...

[Hanners1979]

"Despite recovering the flight data recorder from the wreckage, the caush of the crash is yet to be established. It has been confirmed however that the pilot was a big Pink Floyd fan"

Re:Flash drives would be better..

[Anonymous Coward]

"flying off a lecture room table and hitting the floor two meters below"

do you go to giant school or something?

Re:Shocking...

[TEMMiNK]

It's not it breaking we have to worry about, its having to install iTunes on the aircraft's computer systems to use the damn thing!

Re:Shocking...

[PHPfanboy]

Just press f12 to Eject

Re:Shocking...

[drsquare]

It may survive the pressure, but will it survive the rest of the plane smashing through it?

Re:It won't break

[dosquatch]

Absolutely! Similarly, the iPods will be programmed to loop "We Built This City" endlessly, virtually guaranteeing that somebody will show up to scream "Turn that crap off!"

iPod Accessory

[KoldKompress]

iPod Accessories just keep getting more and more inventive. And I thought the iPod sock was inventive, but now a plane?

iFlight now available at iTunes

[aplusjimages]

But think about all the great Black Box recordings that will be available on iTunes for everyone to listen to. I see the RIAA getting their mits in on this.

This wil never work

[poot_rootbeer]

Won't the iPod disrupt the plane's flight electronics and CAUSE crashes, though? That's why the flight attendants always remind us that the use of portable electronic devices during takeoff and landing is forbidden, right?

Re:Worse still

[sokoban]

If they use a Zune though, they won't have to find the actual flight data recorder, they'll just have to find another person with a Zune.

On second thought, it might be easier to search through a pile of charred rubble for a small piece of metal than to find another person with a Zune.

News at 11: A Breakthrough in NTSB investigation

[JRHelgeson]

I can see the news report now:
"NTSB crash investigators have been baffled as to the cause of the private plane crash that killed Steve Jobs and four others last week, but today they made a major breakthrough in their investigation. The crash investigators were initially stymied by the sequence of events leading up to the crash. Apparently, the initial confusion was resolved once they discovered the Crash.Events playback was set to shuffle."

"In a related story, Conspiracy therorists are not buying the explanation. They say that they have proof that the flight data recorder shows the plane was in level flight after having slammed into the Mountain. They insist that this was a plot financed by former Microsoft President Bill Gates to 'send a message' that Microsoft is not to be trifled with."

"Mr Gates was unavailable for comment as he was attending a conference on Aids in Africa."

"To counter these claims, the NTSB has offered to share crash evidence with the general public, just as soon as they can figure out how to bypass the DRM features without running afoul of the DMCA."

Re:Wow.

[Storebj0rn]

"Black Boxes" are made to survive all kinds of unbelievable crashes, impacts, fires, explosions, etc.. Instead, these brainiacs are going to use something that breaks if it drops out of your pocket. Way to go, guys.

Relax, it's a White Box.

Re:Shocking...

[Scorchio]

If you're fed up with breaking your delicate iPods, why not try adapting a flight data recorder to play MP3s?