# Why don’t helicopters have black boxes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-helicopters-have-black-boxes/847185 "2020-01-29T19:56:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-helicopters-have-black-boxes/847185/41 "2020-01-30T23:13:08Z")
But for added clarification, there is no such thing as VFR where you “fly in an IFR sort of way”. In this type of scenario, VFR and IFR are very different paradigms. Under VFR you (generally) **want to be low** , below the cloud base because you want to remain in sight of the ground. Only under VFR would you fly up a valley below the ridgetops on either side. Under IFR, which assumes no visibility, you **want to be high**. You cannot rely upon instruments to position you with such precision between two ridges, so you always adopt a much more conservative approach to terrain clearance, you fly high enough that you are above _any_ high terrain in the general area. That why vacillating in a marginal situation is so dangerous - you need to commit to **either** staying low enough that you can see and avoid high terrain (VFR) if you believe you can do so, **or** land immediately if you can, **or** fully commit to the switch to IFR which means doing just the opposite - accept that you cannot see, maximum rate of climb in the safest direction until you are higher than the ridgetops, at which altitude your precise horizontal position is less critical. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-helicopters-have-black-boxes/847185/42 "2020-01-30T23:13:41Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > The bigger issue is, that the entire crash could have been avoided if the pilot refused to fly because of weather and others were advised not to do so. I seriously doubt that if Kobe Bryant wasn’t part of this group, the flight would have never taken off considering the weather conditions. Actually, the difference would be that if no celebrity was aboard we would have heard a lot less about this crash, if we heard about it at all. [This thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=164613) is about an accident that happened at my home airport 17 years ago. While many details differ (fixed wing, not SVFR, others) it is another accident that occurred due to pilot hubris and dumbass decisions that wound up getting both the pilot and several other people killed. But most people never heard about it because no one famous or particularly important was involved. These accidents happen every year. They aren’t very common, but they do happen. It’s sad regardless of whether or not anyone famous was on board. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-helicopters-have-black-boxes/847185/43 "2020-01-31T15:27:19Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Actually, the difference would be that if no celebrity was aboard we would have heard a lot less about this crash, if we heard about it at all. … These accidents happen every year. They aren’t very common, but they do happen. It’s sad regardless of whether or not anyone famous was on board. In fact, the helicopter crash [just a month ago in Hawaii](https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/01/15/ntsb-issues-preliminary-report-kauai-tour-helicopter-crash-that-killed/) sounds rather similar. It barely made national news. 6 people died, but nobody famous. > [@](#): > > … the helicopter hit a north-facing slope at an elevation of about 3,000 feet, burst into flames and came to rest about 100 feet below where the aircraft made impact. > … > At the time, the witness said, the weather had turned bad and visibility was at just 20 feet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-helicopters-have-black-boxes/847185.md?page=2)