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.
Nuke ‘em from outer space.
It’s the only way to be sure!
Just repeating what I read. It’ll be weeks before any ‘reliable’ information on the disaster will come out.