A Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flightdeck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents. This is typically achieved by recording the signals of the microphones and earphones of the pilots headsets and of an area microphone in the roof of the cockpit. 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. ...

Cockpit Voice Recorder (Exhibit in Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany)

Where an aircraft is required to carry a CVR and utilises digital communications the CVR is required to record such communications with air traffic control unless this is recorded elsewhere. It is at present (2005) a requirement that the recording duration is a minimum of 30 minutes, but it is recommended that it should be 2 hours.

A standard CVR is capable of recording 4 channels of audio data for a period of 2 hours. The original requirement was for a CVR to record for 30 minutes, but this has been found to be insufficient in many cases, significant parts of the audio data needed for a subsequent investigation having occurred more than 30 minutes before the end of the recording.

The earliest CVRs used analog wire recording, later replaced by analog magnetic tape. Some of the tape units used two reels, with the tape automatically reversing at each end. Other units used a single reel, with the tape spliced into a continuous loop, much as in an 8-track cartridge. The tape would circulate and old audio information would be overwritten every 30 minutes. Recovery of sound from magnetic tape often proves difficult if the recorder is recovered from water and its housing has been breached. Thus, the latest designs employ solid-state memory and use digital recording techniques, making them much more resistant to shock, vibration and moisture. With the reduced power requirements of solid-state recorders, it is now practical to incorporate a battery in the units, so that recording can continue until flight termination, even if the aircraft electrical system fails. Wire recording is a type of analogue audio storage in which the recording is made onto thin steel or stainless steel wire. ... Compact audio cassette Magnetic tape is a non-volatile storage medium consisting of a magnetic coating on a thin plastic strip. ... An 8-track cartridge The 8-track cartridge is a magnetic tape technology for audio storage, popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. ...

Like the flight data recorder (FDR), the CVR is typically mounted in the empennage of an airplane to maximize the likelihood of its survival in a crash. An example of a Flight Data Recorder The flight data recorder (FDR) is a flight recorder used to record specific aircraft performance parameters. ... Empennage is an aviation term used to describe the tail portion of an aircraft. ...

The heavy metal band Rammstein's album Reise, Reise is made to look like a CVR; it also includes a recording from a crash. Heavy metals, in chemistry, are chemical elements of a particular range of atomic weights. ... For the city, see Ramstein-Miesenbach. ... Reise, Reise (German for Arise, Arise or Journey, journey) is the German NDH-metal band Rammsteins fourth album. ...

Manufacturers' websites

• Penny + Giles Aerospace Airborne Recorders
• L-3 Communications Corp., Aviation Recorders