US kills Iran's General Soleimani

Soldato
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The question I have, suppose the information on the FDR is intact (as it probably is) and retrievable. Is it possible to actually modify or delete the information on the FDR, lets suppose the Iranians wanted to delete parts of potentially incriminating information, before letting anyone else near it. (perhaps parts of the cockpit voice recorder, if the pilots were heard shouting anything about an impact or explosion) ?

Or could they modify any of the technical data stored on it, for example create a fake fault with the data from one of the engines, to make it look like one was likely to develop a fault right after takeoff?

Just trying to think of ways in which it might be 'hackable' to support their intentions.

Part of my job on some of the aircraft I've worked on is to download the FDR/CVR and either analyse it myself (when I was in the RAF) or hand it on to other people to analyse while I observe (my current civilian job) and while neither of those two particular aircraft files were locked/encrypted once downloaded etc i.e. I could change stuff if I wanted using Notepad or Excel (once the files were on a separate PC) - I haven't worked on this aircraft's particular system so can't give a definitive answer.

However my pure guess would be *IF* Iran has access to a 737-800 FDR "download" device, usually a laptop (its a very common plane so maybe?) then they can download the files and edit whatever they want as the idea is that the data isn't supposed to be "secret" etc, because people want to found out what happened, and the people doing the analysis are completely independent of the anyone else involved like the manufacturer etc so they have no reason to hide/mess with the data, which means there are no stops involved in editing the data.

Nothing an smelting oven can't solve.

:D
 
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Associate
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Iran can prattle on all it wants about it being an engine.. whatever.... but half the spy sats in the world were prob trained on that part of the planet that night and i doubt a cockroach could fart and not be noticed.
 
Caporegime
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Iran can prattle on all it wants about it being an engine.. whatever.... but half the spy sats in the world were prob trained on that part of the planet that night and i doubt a cockroach could fart and not be noticed.

Iran doesn't care about that, speculation is easier than honesty. As with speculation people can have opinions on the matter about what happened, whether to trust their own institutions and what not.

I think it suits them quite well, but we'll see how it evolves nonetheless.
 
Soldato
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In the interests of clarity, having seen a new images of the FDR from Iranian TV it's actually a Honeywell Connected Recorder 25 (HCR-25) rather than the L3 Aviation FA2200/2300 I mentioned above (a minor detail to some, maybe). I've edited the original post but the gist of my post remains unchanged as the Honeywell is tested to the same limits as the FA2200 series and is downloaded in a similar way.

Whats interesting is that having now seen the virtually undamaged FDR it means there is a 99.9% probability that the info is fully intact. The CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) however is damaged enough from having the memory chip storage area (the cylinder section) ripped away from the Electronics Unit (the square box section) and will need it's chips removing as shown at the bottom.

Y253iLx.jpg

9xnGTjH.jpg

imusSkc.jpg

and these are the solid state chips which live deep inside the cylinder. If the FDR/CVR box is mashed up and normal electrical connection can't be made then these chips have to be removed as in this image. However, in the case of the Iran aircraft, whilst the FDR is still able to be downloaded normally, usually via a laptop or similar device, because the memory chips section is still attached to the Electronics Unit (which does all the power and communication), the CVR would need to go through this very specialised process to retrieve any voice recordings and I have no idea whether Iran has those sorts of facilities easily available i.e. under strict control.

w4Bcd1N.jpg

Sorry for the uber geeky post :)
 
Soldato
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the CVR would need to go through this very specialised process to retrieve any voice recordings and I have no idea whether Iran has those sorts of facilities easily available i.e. under strict control.
I would guess not as they have invited Frances air crash investigation team plus Boeing representatives to assist.
 
Caporegime
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I would guess not as they have invited Frances air crash investigation team plus Boeing representatives to assist.

Ahh yes 'assist', before being arrested for spying... In seriousness perhaps they will admit fault eventually, but it'll likely be so they can also blame Trump for putting Iran in the situation in the first place. If they take the full blame, i'd be surprised.
 
Caporegime
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Being an ambassador for a country like Iran would be a **** job. Probably don't even get paid all that well either.

And you end up having to stand in front of government officials and lie/dodge the truth under oath to keep the government coverup going. Then get caught out and have to change your story... twice...
 
Soldato
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Being an ambassador for a country like Iran would be a **** job. Probably don't even get paid all that well either.
You would have to assume they are all hardcore regime supporters. As they're basically being paid to leave the country, go to a better one and frequently go to the building where you ask for asylum/defection :D
 
Caporegime
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You would have to assume they are all hardcore regime supporters. As they're basically being paid to leave the country, go to a better one and frequently go to the building where you ask for asylum/defection :D

I would speculate otherwise on that, it's obviously irrelevant for western countries, but for most Middle-eastern ones, it's basically a holiday in comparison to working at home. That's before we get to the likelihood of hypocrisy among authoritarians, bigots and the outwardly devout. Mind you I doubt Iran can comfortably pay embassy staff the same way that the UAE, Qatar or SA can, so probably more difficult to be 'corrupt and immoral'. Depends if the job is meant to be cushy or not, I suppose.
 
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Caporegime
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Knew they'd pitch in that jibe at the US for 'creating' the situation in the first place by bombing Soleimani, it's technically accurate (in the most basic form of causal logic), but it still puts a shadow over the Iranian military regardless, not a good image for authority to seem stupid.

So we'll see if this means anything to Iran's populace, probably not, but one shouldn't expect stability where there isn't any. Time to figure out if those isolationist measures work well enough (+ a dousing of fear/violence) to dampen the desire for re-revolution.

Suspect Iran is going to focus on keeping it's domestic situation stable if it can, while hoping that all their efforts in Iraq works in their favour.
 
Soldato
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Wonder what will happen to the missile operators, they say they will be punished, hope not death penalty. But that's their world I suppose.
 
Caporegime
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I think you’re overestimating the breadth of opinion for revolution in Iran there, especially after the assassination which appears to have angered moderates and empowered hardliners. Nothing like bringing a country together than being attacked...
 
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