Once their located, authorities need to confirm if the black box is from the missing jet.

Kevin Balys, owner of KGB Aviation Solutions in West Seneca said the crucial data from the flight recorder will help investigators piece together what went wrong.

“It was there. It experienced it. While it’s not human, it still recorded everything that happened” said Balys.

The flight data recorder is one of two black boxes on the plane. It stores memory about the flight operating functions like altitude, airspeed or movement of the wing flaps. Once investigators retrieve it, the data will be copied off the flight recorder, decoded and analyzed.

The cockpit voice recorder is also vital. There are four channels on it, but Balys explained that the area microphone is often the most helpful.

“The area microphone is very important because the pilot communication back and forth we already know is minimal. The area mic will be very important in this investigation because they’ll be able to hear what was exactly happening in the cockpit” said Balys.

However every time investigators search for a black box it isn’t always found. In some instances it can be destroyed.

“In most crashes the black box is unrepairable. What’s important to know is that it’s the memory on the black box that survives. That data is stored on memory chips on the new flight data recorders” said Balys. “You don’t need a functioning flight data recorder to get the data off of a good memory chip”.

The signals of black boxes are only meant to least one month after it’s had contact with the water. The signal from the missing airliner’s flight recorder is dimming. It passed the one month mark on Tuesday.

Balys said in the future black boxes should have signals that can last 90 days.

News 4 is at the scene and will update this story with the latest as information becomes available.

Firefighters responded to the Crosby Avenue home around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. The fire inside the home claimed the lives of a male and female whose names have not been released.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

News 4 will update this story with more information as it becomes available.

Around 2 a.m. police were called to Lock 34 on Main Street because of a fight.

During the altercation three people were cut or stabbed.

Police say one stab victim was taken to the hospital by Mercy Flight. A second person was bleeding heavily and taken to ECMC.

Authorities say the third person left the scene, but police found them at a nearby house. That individual was also taken to ECMC.

The status of their conditions hasn’t been released yet.

Lockport Police are investigating this case. If anyone has information about it, your asked to contact Detective Lieutenant Todd Chenez at 716-433-7700.

Buffalo, NY (WIVB) – One person is in the hospital and another is in custody after a pickup truck crashed into a home in Buffalo.

It happened on East Delavan Avenue just after 1 a.m. Saturday morning.

Buffalo Police say officers were trying to pull the truck over when it took off speeding.

The passenger in the truck was taken to ECMC with serious injuries. The driver is now in police custody.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A News 4 staffer won in five of the categories at the third annual Buffalo Excellence in Media Awards on Friday, and in a sixth category, WIVB took home TV Station of the Year.

The awards, which are presented by the non-profit Buffalo Broadcasters Association, are meant to recognize the outstanding achievements of individuals in the media here in Western New York. Impartial industry professionals from our area and across the nation judge who is most deserving of these honors, and a lot of News 4 staffers went home winners Friday night.

Of the 11 categories where a News 4 staffer was entered, a News 4 staffer won in five of them. And in a sixth category, WIVB was named the TV Station of the Year!

The other categories where News 4 won are:

TV Personality of the Year:
Steve Vesey

Rising Star Award:
Lauren Hall

Pinnacle Award:
George Richert

Best Use of Social Media:
Bryan Shaw

Sales Executive of the Year:
Phil Banas

Congratulations to the News 4 team and all of this year’s winners!

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The federal government on Monday seized three China-based websites which authorities believe have contributed to drug use and overdoses across the U.S., including the deaths of a man and woman from Hamburg.

On Friday, U.S. Attorney William Hochul announced the following websites were seized for selling illegal and potentially dangerous controlled substances and analogues:

• kerrypharm.com
• kaseeypharm.com
• kx-researchchem.com

Hochul’s office says these websites have been under investigation for the past year as agents looked into how illegally controlled substances were being purchased from websites operated by Chinese businesses.

“ICE [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement] agents have been working for almost a year now on a number of Chinese websites, making undercover purchases, following the sales of these illegal drugs into the United States, in the Western District of New York, and arresting individuals who are buying these for resale on the streets of Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Rochester,” says Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Kaufman, who is prosecuting the case.

Kaufman tells News 4 these three websites, and hundreds more like them, are becoming a go-to source of synthetic narcotics and other designer drugs.

“It’s basically a literal drug supermarket,” Kaufman explains. “You can go on these websites, and they’re open to everybody, ’cause it’s the internet.”

“We were able to purchase fentanyl, which is obviously the most dangerous substance. That’s what people [are taking] when [they believe] they’re taking heroin. And fentanyl will kill you. Methylone, bath salts, ecstasy-like type drugs…”

Kaufman says drugs from China are believed to have caused at least three overdoses in Western New York. Last August, a man and a woman in Hamburg died after taking MT-45. In October 2013, a 17-year-old girl using Methylone suffered seizures and went into a coma. She has now recovered.

“We strongly believe – and we’re trying to verify that fact – that those drugs that are causing these injuries and these deaths came from websites such as these,” says Kaufman.

ICE and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are seeing an increasing number of drug dealers in the United States getting their supplies from Chinese-run websites, according to Kaufman. There are a number of reasons why.

“Whether it’s going to be $150, or a $200 transaction – fairly cheap,” says Kaufman. “To be honest, it’s a lot safer to do it over the internet than… to go out on a street corner and try to buy a hand-to-hand sale from another dealer. Because then, you don’t have the danger of being shot at or the violence that’s associated with these type of drugs.”

While it may be a safer way for dealers to conduct business, the risks for users are exponentially greater.

“The anonymity of the internet is real dangerous. They don’t know what they’re getting. They think they’re getting a product that’s going to get them high, but they don’t know it’s a product that can kill them,” Kaufman says.

“Websites such as these are nothing more than technologically enhanced, street corner drug dealers,” said Hochul. “We have often warned the public about purchasing knock off goods online. When it comes to substances which are intended for human consumption, such purchases become a life and death situation.”

The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office say Sharon Linforth, 73, of Lancaster turned into a driveway on Fisk Road in the Town of Pendleton around 5:30 p.m., directly into the path of a motorcycle operated by Richard Vanorder of Lockport.

Vanorder was taken to ECMC by Mercy Flight for an arm and leg injury. Linforth was transported by ambulance to Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital to be evaluated.

Linforth is charged with failure to yield the right of way.

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) – Roswell Park Cancer Institute thanked its volunteers on Friday who have dedicated years of service in the fight against cancer.

A luncheon at the Creekside Banquet Facility in Cheektowaga recognized hundreds of people who have made life easier for patients and visitors. Among the volunteers is Seeta Anne Thulsner, who has volunteered at the gift shop for 38 years.

Also recognized on Friday was Terry May, who has volunteered at Roswell Park for 21 years.

Almost 700 people volunteered their time at the cancer institute last year.

ATTICA, N.Y. (WIVB) – A dog that bit a 2-year-old girl from Attica on the face will not be put down.

Emilee Amrhein needed stitches after the dog latched onto her head inside an apartment. A judge ruled the dog will not be put down but the owner must pay to have the dog micro-chipped, neutered and physically controlled around children.

The animal belongs to a friend who was staying with the family and it apparently attacked while the girl’s mother was eating as it made an effort to get at the food.