Originally Posted by
andrasz
The case of Iran and Russia are not directly comparable, they are apples & oranges. In 1981 Iran was left with a fleet of 1960s-70s designs, which were all essentially mechanical designs, with no electronics controlling primary systems. Modern A & B are essentially flying computers with some attached aerodynamic and propulsion devices. The black boxes are only repairable by the manufacturers (as opposed to simple copying and manufacture of a worn or broken mechanical part), and with the failure rate of electronics, the available stocks will be depleted far quicker than 10 years. Without EEC the engines will not start...
True, but most of the electronics in modern commercial aircraft are far from state of the art - it's simply costs way too much to recertify with newer electronics so long as the old stuff is still available. It's relatively easy to come buy 15-20 year old electronics on the second hand market (or the black market) and most of the internals are no different than what's in your laptop. Further, while the regulations may say a box can only be serviced by the manufacturer, the skills necessary are not particularly rare so as long as you're not worried about a western air-worthiness certificate, the capabilities to repair most of the black boxes is available.