Graphics showing the flight path, altitude and service history of the flight, and aircraft accidents in China, accidents by stage of flight and a black boxes explainer The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder shed light on the crash's cause 

Graphics showing the flight path, altitude and service history of the flight, and aircraft accidents in China, accidents by stage of flight and a black boxes explainer The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder shed light on the crash's cause 

A flight data recorder from an unknown public transport aircraft is seen in private aviation museum in the village of Zruc, near Plzen January 28, 2015. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken January 28, 2015 REUTERS/David W Cerny 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) holds a cockpit voice recorder, an up-to-date model by L-3 Aviation Products that is used in Boeing and Airbus aircraft, at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) holds a data recorder, an up-to-date model by L-3 Aviation Products that is used in Boeing and Airbus aircraft, at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) holds a voice recorder, an up-to-date model by Honeywell that is used in Boeing and Airbus aircraft, at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) holds a voice recorder, an up-to-date model by L-3 Aviation Products that is used in Boeing and Airbus aircraft, at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

A historic tape-based and partly burned voice recorder is seen at Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

A historic steel-foil-based data recorder is seen at Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. On this model
the information is recorded and scratched onto a steel foil that is temperature-resistant. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) holds a historic and partly burned tape-based voice recorder at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) holds a Russian-made historic tape-based voice recorder at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015 REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Solid-state data and voice recorders of different brands and models are seen at a storage of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or 'black boxes', used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The 'deployable black boxes' combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) holds a historic and partly burned tape-based voice recorder at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

An employee of Germany's Bundesamt fuer Fluguntersuchung BFU (German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation) removes a solid state flight recorder from a cupboard at their headquarters in Braunschweig March 20, 2015. The task of the BFU is to investigate into accidents and serious incidents to civil aircraft in Germany, to determine the causes of the occurrences. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. Picture taken March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 

A combination picture showing the development of flight recorders or 'black boxes' since the 1950's. Flight recorders or ?black boxes?, used in investigations of aviation catastrophes since the mid-20th century, have developed considerably over the years. While older recorders contained spools of magnetic tape, modern devices use crash-survivable digital chips. There have been increasing calls for commercial planes to be fitted with ejectable recorders that separate from the tail during a crash, technology already in use by military aircraft. The ?deployable black boxes? combine voice and data recordings and emit a distress signal to a global search and rescue satellite system. REUTERS/Staff 

The flight data recorder from AirAsia QZ8501 is placed into a container at the National Transportation Safety Committee office in Jakarta January 12, 2015. Indonesian navy divers retrieved the black box flight data recorder from the wreck of the AirAsia passenger jet on Monday, a major step towards unravelling the cause of the crash that killed all 162 people on board. Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. REUTERS/Beawiharta (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT) 

The flight data recorder of AirAsia QZ8501 is lifted out of a carrying case at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan January 12, 2015. Indonesian navy divers on Monday retrieved the black box flight data recorder from an AirAsia airliner that crashed two weeks ago, killing all 162 people on board, a government official said. Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore.
REUTERS/Adek Berry/Pool (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT MILITARY) 

The flight data recorder of AirAsia QZ8501 is transferred to another container at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan January 12, 2015. Indonesian navy divers on Monday retrieved the black box flight data recorder from an AirAsia airliner that crashed two weeks ago, killing all 162 people on board, a government official said. Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore.
REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Military policemen carry the flight data recorder of AirAsia QZ8501 at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan January 12, 2015. Indonesian navy divers on Monday retrieved the black box flight data recorder from an AirAsia airliner that crashed two weeks ago, killing all 162 people on board, a government official said. Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore.
REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Zhang Xiaomi, a cat raised by Li Zhen and her husband, who was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, 2014, is seen while Li has an interview with Reuters in Beijing August 21, 2014. Li said her only wish now is that her husband comes home alive no matter how much he has changed.
Six months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 mostly Chinese people on board, disappeared about an hour into a routine journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8, loved ones of missing passengers derive what comfort they can from what's left behind after the world's greatest aviation mystery. More than two dozen countries have been involved in the air, sea and underwater search for the Boeing 777 but months of sorties failed to turn up any trace - even after narrowing the search area to the southern Indian Ocean - long after batteries on the black box voice and data recorders had gone flat. Picture taken August 21, 2014.
REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY TRANSPORT DISASTER ANIMALS)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 22 OF 25 FOR WIDER IMAGE PACKAGE 'STILL MISSING - MH370'. TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH 'MYSTERY KYUNG-HOON' 

Cheng Liping, whose husband Ju was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, 2014 shows a picture which features she and her husband together, and her husband's cup, at a park near her house where she and her husband used to visit during an interview with Reuters in Beijing July 24, 2014,
Cheng said her life has been totally changed since the incident. Their two little sons, who don't know about this incident, keep asking her when their dad is coming back.
Six months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 mostly Chinese people on board, disappeared about an hour into a routine journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8, loved ones of missing passengers derive what comfort they can from what's left behind after the world's greatest aviation mystery. More than two dozen countries have been involved in the air, sea and underwater search for the Boeing 777 but months of sorties failed to turn up any trace - even after narrowing the search area to the southern Indian Ocean - long after batteries on the black box voice and data recorders had gone flat. Picture taken July 24, 2014.
REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY TRANSPORT DISASTER)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 18 OF 25 FOR WIDER IMAGE PACKAGE 'STILL MISSING - MH370'. TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH 'MYSTERY KYUNG-HOON' 

Hu, whose son Zhao's whole family was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, 2014 shows her missing granddaughter's dolls during an interview with Reuters in Beijing July 24, 2014. Hu said she had thought of committing suicide. She could not go back home for a while after the incident because she was afraid of entering the empty house which had been full of her 3 year-old granddaughter's lovely smile.
Six months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 mostly Chinese people on board, disappeared about an hour into a routine journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8, loved ones of missing passengers derive what comfort they can from what's left behind after the world's greatest aviation mystery. More than two dozen countries have been involved in the air, sea and underwater search for the Boeing 777 but months of sorties failed to turn up any trace - even after narrowing the search area to the southern Indian Ocean - long after batteries on the black box voice and data recorders had gone flat. Picture taken July 24, 2014.
REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY TRANSPORT DISASTER)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 17 OF 25 FOR WIDER IMAGE PACKAGE 'STILL MISSING - MH370'. TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH 'MYSTERY KYUNG-HOON' 

Zhiliang, whose fiancee was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, 2014, is silhouetted at an empty house which he had planned to decorate with her for their marriage, after he showed the house during an interview with Reuters in Tianjin, August 26, 2014. Zhiliang said he will wait for his missing fiancee forever. They had planned to marry this year. Six months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 mostly Chinese people on board, disappeared about an hour into a routine journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8, loved ones of missing passengers derive what comfort they can from what's left behind after the world's greatest aviation mystery. More than two dozen countries have been involved in the air, sea and underwater search for the Boeing 777 but months of sorties failed to turn up any trace - even after narrowing the search area to the southern Indian Ocean - long after batteries on the black box voice and data recorders had gone flat. Picture taken August 26, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY TRANSPORT DISASTER TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 01 OF 25 FOR WIDER IMAGE PACKAGE 'STILL MISSING - MH370'. TO FIND ALL SEARCH 'MYSTERY KYUNG-HOON' 

Flowers and messages for the victims of flight MH17 are seen outside Malaysia's High Commission in central London July 22, 2014. Malaysia said on Tuesday it will keep hold of the black boxes voice and data recorders from downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 until an international team is formed and will then hand them over. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN - Tags: DISASTER POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY CONFLICT) 

A pro-Russian separatist shows members of the media a black box belonging to Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, before its handover to Malaysian representatives, in Donetsk July 22, 2014. The remains of some of the 298 victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane downed over Ukraine were making their way to the Netherlands on Tuesday as Aleksander Borodai handed over the plane's black boxes to Malaysian experts. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev (UKRAINE - Tags: POLITICS TRANSPORT DISASTER CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

A man carries the black box, retrieved from the plane crash site, in Kathmandu May 14, 2012. The Dornier aircraft owned by private Agni Air Company crashed while landing at a mountain airstrip in northwest Nepal on Monday, killing 15 people including 13 Indians, officials said. The plane was carrying 18 passengers and a crew of three on a flight from the resort town of Pokhara to Jomsom. Six survivors had been taken to a hospital in Pokhara and the condition of at least one of them is critical. It was not immediately clear what caused Monday's crash, according to news reports. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar (NEPAL - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

The flight data recorder from First Air flight 6560 is removed by an official following a news conference at the Transportation Safety Board of Canada lab in Ottawa August 22, 2011. Twelve people were killed when a First Air jet crashed near Resolute Bay in the far north of the Canadian Arctic on August 20, but three people survived, local media reports. REUTERS/Chris Wattie (CANADA - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

FRANCE-AIRLINER/BLACKBOXES - Map showing path and timeline of Air France flight 447's black boxes from recovery to their arrival in France Thursday for examination. RNGS. (TOR02) 10cm wide 

The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), one of two flight recorders from the Rio-Paris Air France flight which crashed in 2009, is carrying to be displayed for the media before a news conference at the BEA headquarters in Le Bourget, northern Paris, May 12, 2011. French air crash investigators said on Thursday it would take at least three days to extract information from recently retrieved flight recorders that could explain the Rio-Paris disaster almost two years ago. The investigators from France's BEA air accident inquiry agency showed media the skuffed cockpit voice and flight data recorders, recovered from the depths of the Atlantic nearly two weeks ago and shipped to France. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

One of the two flight recorders from the Rio-Paris Air France flight which crashed in 2009 is displayed for the media before a news conference at the BEA headquarters in Le Bourget, northern Paris, May 12, 2011. French air crash investigators said on Thursday it would take at least three days to extract information from recently retrieved flight recorders that could explain the Rio-Paris disaster almost two years ago. The investigators from France's BEA air accident inquiry agency showed media the skuffed cockpit voice and flight data recorders, recovered from the depths of the Atlantic nearly two weeks ago and shipped to France. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

One of the two flight recorders from the Rio-Paris Air France flight which crashed in 2009 is displayed for the media before a news conference at the BEA headquarters in Le Bourget, northern Paris, May 12, 2011. French air crash investigators said on Thursday it would take at least three days to extract information from recently retrieved flight recorders that could explain the Rio-Paris disaster almost two years ago. The investigators from France's BEA air accident inquiry agency showed media the skuffed cockpit voice and flight data recorders, recovered from the depths of the Atlantic nearly two weeks ago and shipped to France. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), one of two flight recorders from the Rio-Paris Air France flight which crashed in 2009, is displayed for the media before a news conference at the BEA headquarters in Le Bourget, northern Paris, May 12, 2011. French air crash investigators said on Thursday it would take at least three days to extract information from recently retrieved flight recorders that could explain the Rio-Paris disaster almost two years ago. The investigators from France's BEA air accident inquiry agency showed media the skuffed cockpit voice and flight data recorders, recovered from the depths of the Atlantic nearly two weeks ago and shipped to France. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

One of the two flight recorders from the Rio-Paris Air France flight which crashed in 2009 is displayed for the media before a news conference at the BEA headquarters in Le Bourget, northern Paris, May 12, 2011. French air crash investigators said on Thursday it would take at least three days to extract information from recently retrieved flight recorders that could explain the Rio-Paris disaster almost two years ago. The investigators from France's BEA air accident inquiry agency showed media the skuffed cockpit voice and flight data recorders, recovered from the depths of the Atlantic nearly two weeks ago and shipped to France. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

A gendarme carries the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), one of two flight recorders from the Rio-Paris Air France flight which crashed in 2009, to be displayed for the media before a news conference at the BEA headquarters in Le Bourget, northern Paris, May 12, 2011. French air crash investigators said on Thursday it would take at least three days to extract information from recently retrieved flight recorders that could explain the Rio-Paris disaster almost two years ago. The investigators from France's BEA air accident inquiry agency showed media the skuffed cockpit voice and flight data recorders, recovered from the depths of the Atlantic nearly two weeks ago and shipped to France. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), one of two flight recorders from the Rio-Paris Air France flight which crashed in 2009, is displayed for the media before a news conference at the BEA headquarters in Le Bourget, northern Paris, May 12, 2011. French air crash investigators said on Thursday it would take at least three days to extract information from recently retrieved flight recorders that could explain the Rio-Paris disaster almost two years ago. The investigators from France's BEA air accident inquiry agency showed media the skuffed cockpit voice and flight data recorders, recovered from the depths of the Atlantic nearly two weeks ago and shipped to France. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

Policemen and soldiers raise their hands while shouting "God is great," to lift their spirits as the team worked through heavy rain to search for bodies and a flight data recorder at the site of the Airblue plane crash in Islamabad's Margalla Hills July 29, 2010. Heavy monsoon rains in Islamabad on Thursday hampered recovery efforts at the site of a Pakistani plane crash that killed all 152 people on board a day earlier, a senior police officer said. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (PAKISTAN - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT ENVIRONMENT) 

Policemen and soldiers raise their hands while shouting "God is great," to lift their spirits as the team worked through heavy rain to search for bodies and a flight data recorder at the site of the Airblue plane crash in Islamabad's Margalla Hills July 29, 2010. Heavy monsoon rains in Islamabad on Thursday hampered recovery efforts at the site of a Pakistani plane crash that killed all 152 people on board a day earlier, a senior police officer said. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (PAKISTAN - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT ENVIRONMENT) 

James Stillwell of L3 Communications holds a SVIVR Cockpit Voice and Flight Data Recorder at a display stand at the Farnborough Airshow in Farnborough July 23, 2010. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN - Tags: TRANSPORT BUSINESS TECH) 

Workers carry apparatus from the wreckage of a crashed Air India Express passenger plane in Mangalore May 23, 2010. Investigators scoured the slopes of a ravine on Sunday looking for the black box of a Boeing 737-800 that crashed off a hilltop runway, killing 158 people. Crash site experts sifted through the wreckage and collected some parts, but were still unable to find the flight data recorder which could provide clues about Saturday's crash. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri (INDIA - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

A worker carries an apparatus from the wreckage of a crashed Air India Express passenger plane in Mangalore May 23, 2010. Investigators scoured the slopes of a ravine on Sunday looking for the black box of a Boeing 737-800 that crashed off a hilltop runway, killing 158 people. Crash site experts sifted through the wreckage and collected some parts, but were still unable to find the flight data recorder which could provide clues about Saturday's crash. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri (INDIA - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

An official inspects recovered apparatus from the wreckage of a crashed Air India Express passenger plane in Mangalore May 23, 2010. Investigators scoured the slopes of a ravine on Sunday looking for the black box of a Boeing 737-800 that crashed off a hilltop runway, killing 158 people. Crash site experts sifted through the wreckage and collected some parts, but were still to find the flight data recorder which could provide clues about Saturday's crash. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri (INDIA - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER) 

The flight data recorder from Thursday's crash of Continental Connection flight 3407 near Buffalo, New York is displayed at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) headquarters in Washington, February 13, 2009.
Fifty people were killed when a commuter plane nosedived into a house in snowy western New York state and burst into flames that burned through the night. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang (UNITED STATES) 

A television cameraman at the National Transportation Safety Board office films the cockpit voice recorder (L) and the flight data recorder from the Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 accident, in Washington December 9, 2005. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 

Egyptian officials hold the black box flight recorder on January 17, 2004 of a plane that crashed off the coast of the Egyptian Red sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The black box was recovered in a joint operation between the French and Egyptian Navy experts. The Egyptian Boeing 737 crashed into the sea on January 3 killing all 148 people on board, 133 of whom were French tourists. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby Pictures of the month January 2004 AN/CRB 

Erin Gormley, FDR (flight data recorder) specialist for the NTSB (National Transportation and Safety Board), stands behind the FDR black box recovered from the crash site of US Airways Express flight 5481 which was displayed for the media at the NTSB in Washington, January 9, 2003. [Flight 5481, a commuter plane, crashed and exploded on January 8 shortly after takeoff from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board, police and U.S. aviation authorities said.] 

A large group of investigators comb the debris field for the fight data
recorders from United Airlines flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania
September 12, 2001. Flight 93 is one of four planes that were hijacked
as part of a deadly and destructive terrorist plot against the U.S.
September 11. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer

TMS 

Joann Lindenmayer (L) of the United States comforts her adopted son, Sam, as a wreath is laid at sea to remember the vicitims of last year's Kenya Airways aircrash just offshore from the Ivory Coast on January 30, 2001. All but 10 of the 179 people on board were killed in the January 30, 2000 accident which remains unexplained since the in-flight data recorder was found to be faulty.

CLH/ 

National Transportation Safety Board member Deepak Joshi (L) and Alaska Airlines worker John Scarola prepare the second of two flight recorders from Alaska Airlines Flight 261 for transportation after it was recovered in the waters off Oxnard February 3. A robot submarine recovered the flight data recorder of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 from the ocean canyon where the plane came to rest after slamming into the sea, killing all 88 people on board, officials said. 

The flight data recorder from Alaska Airlines Flight 261 is gripped in the manipulator arms of the Scorpio, a Tethered Unmanned Work Vehicle, February 3 after it was retrieved from the ocean floor off the coast of Oxnard, California by the U.S. Navy's Deep Submergence Unit Unmanned Vehicle Detachment. The Unit is working from the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle Salvage Ship (DSRVSS) Kellie Chouest. 

The cockpit voice recorder from Alaska Airlines flight 261, is shown in a container filled with water after it was retrieved from the ocean floor off the coast of Oxnard, California by the Scorpio, a Tethered Unmanned Work Vehicle February 2, by the U.S. Navy's Deep Submergence Unit Unmanned Vehicle Detachment. The recorder will be flown immediately to the National Transportation Safety Board lab in Washington, D.C. for analysis. 

The cockpit voice recorder from Alaska Airlines flight 261 is gripped in the manipulator arms of the Scorpio, a Tethered Unmanned Work Vehicle February 2 after it was retrieved from the ocean floor off the coast of Oxnard, California by the U.S. Navy's Deep Submergence Unit Unmanned Vehicle Detachment. The Unit is working from the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle Salvage Ship(DSRVSS) Kellie Chouest. Crews were still searching for the plane's flight data recorder, which also could prove crucial in determining why it plunged from the sky while heading for an emergency landing at
Los Angeles International Airport. Seven of the 83 passengers on board the ill-fated jet were employees of Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air. Another 23 people were friends or family of the employees. The twin-engine MD-83, a member of the MD-80 family of aircraft widely used in commercial aviation, went down while planning to make an emergency landing at LAX [during a flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco and Seattle. ] 

The smashed casing for the flight data recorder recovered from EgyptAir 990 is displayed during a press conference at the agency's headquarters November 10. From left, Vern Ellington of the NTSB, EgyptAir chief inspector Mostafa El Gammal, EgyptAir investigator in charge Capt. Mohsen El-Missery, and NTSB director of aviation safety Bernard Lobe.
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The flight data recorder from EgyptAir 990 is displayed to the media at the agency's headquarters in Washington November 10. An initial look at the recorder shows an uneventful flight before the plane plunged into the ocean off Massachusetts killing 217 people, federal investigators said on Wednesday. ??» 

FILE PHOTO 7NOV99 - The remote underwater vehicle "Magnum," shown November 7 at the Newport Naval Base in Newport, Rhode Island, continued on November 8 to search the debris field of the crash of EgyptAir flight 990 for the voice and data recorders of the downed 767 jetliner. The vehicle is expected to continue in its attempts to recover the boxes throughout the night if weather conditions remain favorable.
**DIGITAL IMAGE** 

Twenty four hours after the West London train crash which killed at least 27 people, transport police search the tracks around the wreckage for clues to the cause of the accident, October 6. Rescue workers are hoping that they can find one of the train's "black box" data recorders to establish whether it was mechanical or human failure which led to the collision.

HP/RUS/HB 

Two cameramen shoot footage of the flight voice recorder, or "black box," as it sits in a cooler of water at the Transportation Safety Board of Canada lab in Ottawa September 12, after it was retrieved from the site of the crash of SwissAir flight 111 on September 11. 229 people were killed when the plane crashed into Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, on September 2. The data recorder didn't contain any information after the plane fell below 10,000 feet and investigators hope the voices and sounds in the cockpit will help them understand what caused the crash.