Flight Data and Voice Recorders

Why are the Flight Data Recorders and Cockpit Voice Recorders sought after aircraft crashes always referred to as “black boxes” when it is obvious to anyone who sees them that they are bright orange? Even more puzzling, why don’t any reporters ever point out this ridiculous situation? I believe I know the answer to both questions but am looking for some fresh input.

For the same reason whenever there is a government scandal, the media say “gate”. They don’t care about reality, and it’s easier than being accurate.

I think the derivation comes from the fact that the box is just this thing that takes an input and doesn’t put anything out. The term ‘black box’ is used quite frequently in the electronics industry. It can refer to something that hides its implementation.

And just about every news outlet already includes a variation on the phrase “…which are actually bright orange…”

The boxes were black when first implemented. The government ordered that they be changed to orange so that they could be more easily located at a crash site. The name was just never changed.

Black Box

I was being flip (although I suspect there is a grain of truth to my post) and the board suddenly slowed to a crawl. In fact, when I re-opened the thread, my post was not there and I thought it failed. Sam Stone and Honey have the correct answer.

I think that Honey and Sam Stone are close but not quite on answering the first question. Unlike Postcards I have never seen any media acknowledge the boxes are orange. Actually, I think Johny LA is closer to the right answer on the second question than he thinks.

The ‘media’, i.e. the network news covering a plane crash, doesn’t often mention this because, um, why would they? It doesn’t contribute anything to the story.

The ‘media’, as in the Discovery or History Channel showing a documentary on plane crashes, mention that they’re really orange every time.