Black cabinets record data during flights without interruption and hold key information in aircraft crashes. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/Istockphoto
When thousands of commercial flights are taken on the sky a day, the robust boxes painted in bright orange shades are tucked in the fuselage.
These boxes, better known as black cabinets, record data during flights without interruption and hold key information in aircraft accidents, such as a fatal Air India aircraft accident on Thursday afternoon (June 12, 2025).
Air India Ahmedabad Flying Crash: Update
In modern aircraft there is a voice recorder of the cockpit (CRV) and digital flight recorder (DFDR).
They are generally called black boxes, although they are painted with a bright orange color to ensure high visibility.
Both recorders are integrated in some aircraft.
How black boxes reconstruct an air accident Click here for the PDF version
In April 2025, the Office for Investigation of Air accidents established in its premises in the National Capital to carry out more efficient probes into the accidents.
The DFDR is covered with bright orange color, treated with reflective material for high visibility and safely associated with automatically activated underwater location.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, AAIB carries out detailed investigations of accidents and also proposes measures to improve security.
Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Airline Aircraft from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick soon after take-off on Thursday (June 12, 2025) is examined by AAIB.
The development of flight data records has evolved for some time. It began using metal foil for data recording and later replaced by magnetic tapes. Currently, leaflet laws are used in fixed state.
The history of air recorders
1950: The first generation of flight data recorders (FDR) appeared with a metal foil as a recording medium.
1953: General Mills sold the first Lockheed Aircraft Company FDr, closed in the spherical shell yellow.
1954: Australian David Ronald de Mey Warren invented his first FDR in the world and examined an air accident. In 1953, Warren, a jet fuel expert, worked as part of a special team that analyzed the mysterious medium air explosions to experience the world’s first commercial aircraft, de Havilland Comet. Subsequently, the FDR invented the recordings to be useful in the analysis of aircraft accidents.
1960: FDRS and CVR are mandatory for the plane.
1965: FDRS must have been painted with clear orange or yellow to be easy to find in the places of accidents.
1990: Memory devices in fixed state replaced magnetic tapes in FDr. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), sound recordings from the cockpit voice recorders complement the related details of responses to flight crew. Records also help to evaluate how radio communication or other external distractions can be in an accident. Their data has helped investigators understand how the aircraft works, both before and during an accident or incident, and provided useful information for ICAO analysis programs.
Published – June 13, 2025 21:57
