Where was the flight recorder, when the recording ended?

In the cockpit or the auxiliary sleeping quarters?

When the "scavengers" brought the auxiliary sleeping quarters down to a crash, the recorder was found inside.

It would make sense that the recording ended because it was in the cockpit and that the TET's effects caused it to stop recording. It would not make sense for the recorder to stop recording simply because the auxiliary quarters was separated from the cockpit. Why would it stop?

It also would not make sense that somehow the cockpit rejoined with its auxiliary compartment - because that would mean that the TET would have located the sleeping crew too.

Is this one of those anomalies in a story that slipped the minds of the director/producer?


The flight recorder was in the auxiliary sleeping quarters and separated from the cockpit with the rest of the vessel.

However it continued to record the conversation in the cockpit remotely, right until it entered the Tet, at which point we can suppose the massive hull required for any vessel of this size simply caused the contact to be lost (imagine trying to use a radio in a heavy metalic bunker with no openings).

Example of small vessel entering a big, Tet-shaped Faraday cage

It explains how it could be found within in the auxiliary sleeping quarters on Earth and why the voice recording only stopped once the cockpit was taken inside, without the need for Deus Ex Machina rejoining later, even if Oblivion has still plenty of others plot holes left :)

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    I like to think of Oblivion not so much as filled with plot holes, as a plot chasm with a few cool bits draped around the edges.. +1 for explaining that apparent one, though the logic of having the main recorder transmit to the pod eludes me. ;) – Andrew Thompson Jan 9 '14 at 18:46
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    @AndrewThompson Real-life airplanes have in fact multiple black boxes. In the case of the Odyssey, it would make sense to "synchronize" them remotely since the parts can be separated, as to increase the chance to get clues in case of accident (that's what happened in the movie). A wholeheartedly +1 for the plot chasm thing, even if it is one of my preferred movies of the year :) – Eureka Jan 9 '14 at 21:50
  • Nicely explained. Thanks. As to 'plot points'. Do you have Enough rep. to see deleted questions? I had made a list of 21 points you can now only see in the edits of a deleted question. BTW - Just after writing that list I watched Elysium, which I thought (in contrast) was a great movie that held together tightly. If you like Sci-Fi action/thriller, I highly recommend it. – Andrew Thompson Jan 10 '14 at 2:31
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    @AndrewThompson This alas requires Access To Moderator Tools and 10k rep: "Once a post has been deleted, it will disappear for all users except developers, moderators, and other fellow users with this privilege." Thanks for the Elysium recommendation, it was not on my radar yet :) – Eureka Jan 10 '14 at 8:01
  • OK, I have to admit I was in a complete (childish) snit when I deleted that Oblivion answer. I have decided to reinstate it, hopefully you can see the edits. Scroll down to the 21 point list. ;) – Andrew Thompson Jan 10 '14 at 8:11

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