[SkyDancer]

Last I read the black boxes were so heavily damaged they were useless to get data from.

[DiogenesLamp]

Last I read the black boxes were so heavily damaged they were useless to get data from.

That is, in itself a clue. Are not the black boxes normally located in the tail section because the tail usually has the least amount of damage during a crash?

That they would be so heavily damaged indicates the tail went through an abnormal amount of damage which is itself an indication that a bomb damaged it, probably sheering it off.

[PA Engineer]

Last I read the black boxes were so heavily damaged they were useless to get data from.

I had not heard that. I heard reports the recorders were recovered very early. I suppose that does not mean they were not badly damaged.

Do you have a link? Thanks.

[Slicksadick]

Here’s a linked view of the boxes.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/02/middleeast/russian-plane-crash-black-boxes/
They seem in great shape compared to other recovered boxes I’ve seen.

[meatloaf]

Not based on pictures that were posted on the internet.

[ltc8k6]

When the outside is so badly damaged that you can’t even make any connections, then you have to take the box apart and get directly to the memory modules, which are almost never damaged. The memory modules can then be read directly.

Don’t forget that there is also a third recorder that uses a ruggedized SD card. The QAR, Quick Access Recorder. if the SD card survived, it has a lot of data on it.

[pabianice]

Strange, since they are usually carried in the tail.

[Travis T. OJustice]

Almost never is a data recorder damaged to the point they can’t extract any information. They are designed and tested to take just about any kind of violent disaster, and this wasn’t anywhere near as violent as some and they still had 100% data recovery.

[TXnMA]

Where did you get that misinformation? The black boxes are in the tail, which landed by itself, some 3 miles from the rest of the a/c -- and the area containing the recorders was basically intact:

Authorities had those intact recorders almost as soon as they arrived on the scene...