Flight recorder is a set of sturdy instruments carried by an aircraft that are designed to be recovered if the craft should crash. Information recorded by these instruments can help investigators to determine the cause of a crash and how to prevent future crashes. A flight recorder consists of two devices. The first is the flight data recorder (FDR), which saves information about the aircraft’s performance. The second is the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which preserves conversations and other noises heard in the airplane’s cockpit. The two devices are often placed apart from each other in the aircraft. Flight recorders are often called “black boxes.” But they are usually bright orange, not black. Nor are they necessarily box-shaped.
Flight data recorders have been used in various forms since the airplane’s invention. David Warren, an Australian chemist, is credited with inventing the first CVR. In 1953 and 1954, the world’s first commercial jet airliner, the British de Havilland Comet, crashed several times. Warren believed it would be helpful to record more than just flight data before a crash. He also wanted to know what the pilots were saying. He built a prototype of a combined FDR and CVR in 1958. By the 1970’s, countries all over the world required that all commercial aircraft carry both CVR’s and FDR’s.
Early flight recorders stored data on foil or tape. Warren’s device used magnetic wires, which could effectively preserve both audio and flight data in a crash. Since the 1990’s, flight recorders have made use of solid-state digital memory, similar to the memory units in smartphones and many other computerized devices. Flight recorders can hold up to 2 hours of cockpit sound and 25 hours of aircraft flight data.
Although flight recorders are designed to survive accidents, sometimes they cannot be found—especially when an airplane crashes into the ocean. Some experts have suggested the development of flight recorders that transmit their data via satellites during flight. Investigators could then access crash data without having to locate the recorder.
