Originally Posted by
oopspff7
Could the the FDR not have a small radioactice marker source built in?
A dye system with a radioactive dye attached would last longer than a plain dye marker.Simple thoughts, but I am simple.
This has been mentioned before....
But any kind of radioactive material still detectable after a major crash such as AF447, with most of the debris and marker 4000m down , would mean a LOT of radioactive material on board every aircraft... which is clearly a nono.
Also, SAR aircraft do NOT carry the highly specialised and sensitive equipment needed to detect trace radioactivity. By the time a specialised aircraft would be 'on site', the tracer would have disappeared.
The first aircraft on site usually carry nothing more sophisticated than a few Mk 1 eyeballs... which lends some weight to the dye marker idea.
Next 'on site' will probably be maritime patrol aircraft that can drop sonoboys to listen for the "pingers", which is why they should remain working for at least a few days.
After that, special sonoboys that could "interrogate" more sophisticated ULBs can be brought in (and by then surface vessels would also be there).
CJ