What the Black Box Says
Flight recorders, and the difference between data and explanation
There is no black box. There are two orange ones, they answer different questions, and neither of them contains a cause. This course covers what the recorders capture, how to read a data trace without being fooled by it, what a voice transcript is and is not, and where the limits of recorded evidence actually fall.
Lessons
- 1Two boxes and one bad nicknameFreeWhat each recorder is for, what they are built to survive, and why the popular name gets it wrong twice over.10 min
- 2What the data recorder actually recordsFreeParameters, sampling rates, and the difference between recorded, derived and computed values. Why a big parameter count proves little.13 min
- 3Reading a traceAxes, interpolation, aliasing, latency and invalid data. The ways a plot can mislead a careful reader, and how to scan one properly.15 min
- 4The cockpit voice recorderFour channels, the area microphone as technical evidence, why a transcript is not a recording, and the unusual law that surrounds it.15 min
- 5Synchronising the recordSeveral sources, none of whose clocks agree. How a single timeline is built, and why a second frequently decides the causal argument.13 min
- 6When the recorders do not helpPower loss, non-recovery, missing parameters and bad readouts — and what investigators reconstruct from instead.14 min
- 7What data cannot establishIntent, causation, absence of evidence, and what the crew could see. Where every recorder-based conclusion contains a human leap.14 min
Assessment
The course ends with 20 questions. They are application rather than recall: most give you something in the shape of report language and ask what it does and does not establish. Every answer comes back explained and pointing at the lesson it came from.
75% or better produces a completion record — a dated page showing the course and your score, which you can link to. It is a record of having done the reading, not a professional certification, and it does not pretend to be one.