Why Airplane ‘Black Boxes’ Have Not Switched to Cloud Storage

Despite the advances in cloud storage technology, there are key reasons why aircraft flight recorders, or ‘black boxes,’ have not been replaced by it.

The cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the Northwest Airlines Flight 188 which overflew its destination by 150 miles. Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images

The search for missing flight recorders, or “black boxes,” on a flight like Malaysia 370, which mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again, raises the question of why airlines do not transmit flight data remotely as cloud storage technology evolves.

Earlier this year, rescue divers had to search through the Potomac River’s ice-cold waters to retrieve the black boxes of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a Bombardier CRJ700 after the two collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.