You and he seem to be under the impression that the FDR has or will lose information because some battery expired. I’m just pointing out that this is not the case. As long as the unit is recovered and wasn’t physically damaged, the data will still be there. Data stored in non-volatile storage isn’t lost when the power goes out. It’s the same principal as when you power off your computer. When you turn it back on, all your files are still there.
Something discussed on Fox News a day or two ago, which I frankly hadn’t thought of, suggests that the recorders will likely not yield the crucial information being sought even if they’re recovered, because of the amount of time captured on them. For instance, the cockpit voice recorder only records two hours’ worth of time before it begins to re-record over itself. Likewise the flight data recorder is limited. Consquently, the information regarding what was happening at the time of the mysterious change in the jet’s direction may no longer exist. It also makes me wonder if that’s why, if simple suicide was the intent, the plane wasn’t just taken down pretty much immediately. For purposes of insurance payouts to family, or even just to create a mystery, the pilot responsible may have extended the flight specifically so that the recorder data, when/if recovered, would be all but worthless.
No, I was just pointing out that he was referring to batteries in reporter's BRAINS.