ABSTRACT
One of the fundamental electrical/electronic systems associated with the aircraft industry is the crashsurvivable fl ight data recorder (FDR). This is often referred to in the press as the ‘ black box ’ , even though the item is painted bright orange! Flight data recorders used for accident investigation are mandatory items of equipment in commercial transport aircraft. Efforts to introduce crash-survivable fl ight data recorders can be traced back to the 1940s; the FDR has now been supplemented with the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Recorders are used after an incident or accident as an integral part of the investigators ’ efforts to establish the cause(s).
