The term Black Box is a placeholder name used casually, often by journalists, to refer to a collection of several different recording devices used in transportation: the flight data recorder, flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder in aircraft, the event recorder in railway diesel locomotives, the Event Data Recorder in automobiles and other recording devices in various vehicles. Black box (systems) is also a term used in physics and electronics to describe a mechanism in which the input and expected outputs are well understood but whose internal operations are deliberately and completely unknown, but this has no special connection with recording devices. Placeholder names are words that can refer to objects or people whose names are either irrelevant or unknown in the context which it is being discussed. ... An example of a FDR (Flight Data Recorder). ... In aircraft, the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) are used to record aircraft and pilot behavior in order to analyze accidents, and are usually called black boxes by the news media. ... In aircraft, the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) are used to record aircraft and pilot behavior in order to analyze accidents, and are usually called black boxes by the news media. ... Event Recorder (Black Box) Event Recorders are similar to the black boxes found on transport airliners. ... Great Western Railway No. ... An Event Data Recorder or EDR, is a device installed in some automobiles used to record information related to accidents. ... Black box is technical jargon for a device or system or object when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics. ...

The black box term originated when after a meeting about the first commercial flight recorder, named the "Red Egg" for its color and shape, someone commented that, "This is a wonderful black box." Black box is more a humorous cadigan than an accurate term (the recorders are not generally black in color, nor are their operations unknown), and is almost never used within the flight safety industry. In aircraft, the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) are used to record aircraft and pilot behavior in order to analyze accidents, and are usually called black boxes by the news media. ...

A number of observational comedians have joked that, because the box seems to be indestructible, the substance used to make the box should be used to make the entire airplane. Observational comedy is a brand of humor based on making remarks about various facets of daily life. ...

See also

• Flight data recorder
• Flight recorder
• Cockpit voice recorder
• Train event recorder
• Event Data Recorder
• Voyage Data Recorder

An example of a FDR (Flight Data Recorder). ... In aircraft, the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) are used to record aircraft and pilot behavior in order to analyze accidents, and are usually called black boxes by the news media. ... In aircraft, the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) are used to record aircraft and pilot behavior in order to analyze accidents, and are usually called black boxes by the news media. ... Event Recorder (Black Box) Event Recorders are similar to the black boxes found on transport airliners. ... An Event Data Recorder or EDR, is a device installed in some automobiles used to record information related to accidents. ... Voyage Data Recorder, or VDR, is a data recording system designed for all vessels required to comply with the IMOs International Convention SOLAS Requirements (IMO Res. ...

External links

• ABC TV (Australia) Dr David Warren interview transcript 2003
• ABC TV (Australia) Dr David Warren interview transcript 2002