Factual Information 2015:1.11 Flight Recorders/1.11.1
This page contains an extract from MH370/01/15 Factual Information which accompanied the (first) Interim Statement released by The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370 on 8th March 2015.
1.11.1 Solid State Flight Data Recorder (SSFDR)
The solid state flight data recorder is located in the Electronic Equipment rack, E7, which is in the aft cabin above the ceiling (Figure. 1.11A above).
The SSFDR receives and stores selected aircraft parameters from various aircraft systems and sensors in a crash-protected solid state memory.
The flight data recorder system (FDRS) operates during any engine start, while any engine is running, during test or when the airplane is in the air. The SSFDR is powered from the right AC transfer bus which is powered by the engine generators or the APU generator. If none of these generators are functioning due to non-operation of the engines and APU then the bus will not be powered and the SSFDR will not operate in the air.
This is a solid state flight data recorder (SSFDR) with a recording capacity of at least twenty-five hours.
The SSFDR records the most recent 25 hours of flight and records more than 1300 parameters. The SSFDR is a 256 word per second (wps) data rate recorder. The most recent flight data recorder download for this aircraft was in September 2013 and this was carried out for the annual readout. The annual readout extracts 151 parameters for evaluation. Details of the SSFDR installed and specifications are as follows:
- Manufacturer: Honeywell
- Model: SSFDR Model 4700
- Part Number (P/N): 980-4700-042
- Serial Number (S/N): SSFDR-08636
- Date last installed on aircraft: 26 August 2012
- Weight: 6.8 kg
- Electricity Consumption: 15 W, 115 VAC 400 Hz
- Impact Shock: 3400 G for 6.5 ms
- Fire Temperature: Max 1100°C (30 min)
- Deep Sea Pressure and Sea Water Immersion: 20,000 ft.
Source: Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, 8 March 2015, Factual Information MH370/01/15
The Factual Information was updated in 2018 by the Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 which added new content but did not include all of the previous data.