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With the January 2025 American Airlines mid-air collision with a USAF Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River still fresh in many people’s minds, questions about how aviation accidents are investigated have once again arisen in the Washington, DC area.
When a serious aircraft accident occurs, investigators work methodically to determine how the event unfolded and what factors may have contributed, and one of the most important sources of evidence comes from the aircraft itself.
Airplanes carry on-board recording systems, commonly known as black boxes, designed to preserve critical flight information even when an aircraft is severely damaged. These recorders can provide investigators with a detailed account of what was happening in the cockpit and how the aircraft was operating before an accident, helping them reconstruct the final moments of a flight and better understand the sequence of events leading to the crash.
Regan Zambri Long’s award-winning Washington, DC aviation accident lawyers work with investigators and aviation experts to review evidence, such as black box data, in serious aviation crashes and determine whether negligence, maintenance failures, or other contributing factors may have played a role.
The black box on an airplane is not just one device but is actually made up of two: the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. These crash-protected devices record critical flight information, including communications and the airplane’s performance during flight.
Black boxes are built to withstand extreme conditions, from powerful impacts to intense post-crash fires to deep underwater pressure. Aircraft manufacturers usually install these recorders near the rear of the plane, because this is considered one of the most crash-survivable areas of the aircraft. Because of this design, investigators are often able to recover the devices even when much of the aircraft has been severely damaged.
Each recorder is also equipped with an underwater locator beacon, sometimes called a “pinger.” If the recorders become submerged after a crash, their beacons activate automatically and begin transmitting an acoustic signal at 37.5 kilohertz. Search teams can detect this signal using specialized receivers, helping them locate the recorders even in deep water. These beacons are designed to transmit from depths of up to 14,000 feet.
During an aviation accident investigation, the information stored inside these devices helps investigators reconstruct the final moments of a flight. By analyzing the recorded data, investigators can begin to determine how the aircraft was operating and what events may have contributed to the crash.
Both systems serve separate but complementary purposes in aviation safety and accident analysis:
A flight data recorder collects technical information about how the aircraft operates throughout the flight. This device continuously records key performance data, allowing investigators to reconstruct the aircraft’s behavior before an accident.
Typical data recorded includes:
When investigators analyze this information, they can track exactly how the aircraft responded to pilot commands or to changes in flight conditions. The data may show whether the aircraft experienced mechanical problems, whether a system malfunction occurred, or whether the pilots attempted certain maneuvers in response to an emergency.
A cockpit voice recorder captures audio from inside the cockpit, allowing investigators to understand what the flight crew experienced during the flight. While the flight data recorder focuses on technical aircraft performance, the cockpit voice recorder provides context about what the pilots heard, discussed, and responded to.
The recorder captures:
These recordings can provide valuable insight into how the flight crew responded to changing circumstances. For example, cockpit audio may reveal when pilots first became aware of a mechanical problem or how they attempted to manage an emergency situation. Investigators can also hear automated warning systems and alarms that may have been triggered before the crash.
Black boxes record information continuously during a flight, but they do not store data forever. Instead, the systems work on a loop, meaning older recordings are gradually replaced as new information is recorded.
For many years, recorders typically preserved only about two hours of cockpit audio. In 2026, federal regulators expanded that requirement, mandating that most newly manufactured aircraft be equipped with a cockpit voice recorder capable of storing at least 25 hours of audio.
This looping system ensures that the most recent portion of a flight is preserved. When investigators recover the recorders after an accident, the final minutes and hours leading up to the event are usually still stored inside the devices.
After a crash, investigators work to locate and recover the aircraft’s recorders from the wreckage. Once recovered, the devices are sent to specialized laboratories where experts can safely extract the information stored inside.
The analysis of black box data in a plane crash is a central step in an aviation accident investigation. Investigators typically follow several stages during this process:
Using specialized software, investigators can replay flight data second by second and align it with cockpit audio. This allows them to recreate the sequence of events leading up to the accident and examine how the aircraft systems and the flight crew responded during the final portion of the flight.
These investigations are typically led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), with participation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aircraft manufacturers, and other aviation experts.
Although black boxes are designed to survive extreme conditions, there are situations in which investigators cannot recover them, or the devices are so damaged that usable information cannot be retrieved.
This can occur when an aircraft crashes in very deep ocean areas or when the wreckage cannot be located. In other cases, severe impact or prolonged exposure to water may damage the recorders.
When black box data is unavailable, investigators must rely on other sources of evidence. These may include:
Even without a recovered recorder, investigators can still piece together many aspects of a crash. However, the absence of black box data often makes an aviation accident investigation more difficult because investigators lose one of the most reliable records of the flight’s final moments.
Because of these challenges, some aviation experts have suggested that new technologies may eventually supplement or replace today’s black boxes, including systems that could transmit certain flight data in real time via satellite.
Regan Zambri Long’s Washington, DC aviation accident lawyers work with aviation investigators and technical experts to analyze black box data in a plane crash and understand how the accident unfolded. Reviewing this information can help clarify the sequence of events leading up to the crash and identify whether factors such as mechanical failure, pilot actions, maintenance issues, or other problems may have contributed.
By examining this evidence alongside other findings from the investigation, our attorneys can help determine whether negligence or other legal responsibility may be involved.
If you or a loved one has been affected by an aviation accident, contact us for a free consultation so we can help you understand what the investigation reveals and the options available.
Have you or your loved one sustained injuries in Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia? Regan Zambri Long PLLC has the best lawyers in the country to analyze your case and answer the questions you may have.