The black box recorders from flight MH17 were finally handed over to Malaysia by the pro-Russia rebels in east Ukraine in the early morning on July 22. The two black boxes have only minor impairment. They will be routed to Britain and will undergo specialized analysis. However, as the black boxes were in the hands of the pro-Russia rebels for several days, have they already got the information from the boxes? Have they tampered with the information by technical means?

Of the two black box recorders, one records all conversations in the cockpit, and the other records all flight-related data.

According to the standard, a black box can withstand acceleration of gravity of 3400g and temperature of 1100 degrees Celsius, making it difficult for external forces to penetrate the shell of the black box. According to Malaysian Investigators, there was no external damage on the black boxes of MH 17.

Could the data in the black box recorders of MH17 be modified? The staff of the UK Civil Aviation Authority said that modification could be discovered if it had been done.

According to Daily Mail, the data in the black box can only be read through specialized systems and software.

If a hacker wants to use false data to replace the real ones, changing a data means changing a series of data associated.

In addition, some of the basic data of MH17 had been transferred to the ground in real time via ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System). Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that the transmission of ACARS in MH17 operated normally. This means that any difference between the data of the black box and data of ACARS will be obvious.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, said that by decoding the information in the black box, people can know if there was any problem in the data of the aircraft recorder. If not, people can exclude flight mechanical failures and technical problems.

Song said that although the aircraft voice recorder only has two hours' record, it is very important. For example, the pilots' scared shout or conversation could also be the proof that the plane crashed because of some external strike.

Song also emphasized that those evidences are not direct evidences which must come directly from the analysis of the wreckage of the aircraft. 

This article is edited and translated from 追问MH17被击落：黑匣子数据是否能篡改？ Source: Beijing News