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flight recorder
Sign in to saveAlso known as black box, flight black box, flight's black box, plane's black box, flight data recorder
aircraft electronic recording device
A flight recorder is an electronic device that continuously captures detailed information about an aircraft's systems and performance during flight. These recordings are crucial for investigating accidents and understanding what happened in the moments leading up to a crash.
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- Image
- Flight data recorder recovered from the Potomac River on 2 February 2025 (cropped).jpg
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- MCN code
- 8519.81.20
- Commons category
- Flight data recorders
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A modern flight data recorder; the underwater locator beacon is the small cylinder on the far right. (Translation of warning message in French: "Flight recorder do not open".) The warning appears in English on the other side. Cold War-era Soviet MS-61 cockpit voice recorder from a MiG-21 interceptor
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated name which has become a misnomer because they are required to be painted bright orange, to aid in their recovery after accidents.