The black box is a device that all planes carry. In the event of an accident, it makes it possible to discover what happened before the accident and determine its causes. Despite its name, the black box is not that color and it does not have that shape either, since it can be presented in a cylindrical or spherical structure.
These devices are often painted orange to make it easier to locate them in the wreckage of an accident. International Orange is the shade used in the aerospace industry to distinguish objects in their surroundings. For example, it is also used in NASA astronaut suits.
There are different theories as to why they are called black boxes. One indicates that the first prototypes had that color and functioned as a camera obscura with photographic plates, so its interior must be black.
Another explanation points out that certain black boxes used in the past a system created with magnetic tapes, which were placed inside metal boxes. These were painted black to protect their content and prevent oxidation. Their nomenclature could also be due to the fact that they technically behave like a black box, a term used in science to define an interface with input and output.
The black boxes of commercial aircraft usually include two different systems that are known by their acronym in English: CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) and FDR (Flight Data Recorder).
The first is the cockpit voice recorder, which records the conversations of the pilots and crew, as well as other sounds heard in the cockpit. The second is the flight data recorder, which records the operations carried out by the aircraft and figures for temperature, speed, altitude, engine performance, etc.
Both devices have a location beacon that allows them to be found, even when they are submerged. In addition, they are protected by a casing that can withstand extreme conditions and temperatures, around 1,100 degrees Celsius.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
