What is a Black Box?

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The black box is the common name for the flight data recorder, a device carried in an aircraft. Its purpose is to give the cause of faults if these develop in flight. It gives information about a plane's heading, height, air speed, rate of descent, etc. This recorder is encased in a crash proof, fireproof, floatable box. In case of a casualty, the black box remains safe and is recovered later. The information are recorded in binary code. Besides a flight recorder, a plane also carries a cockpit voice recorder which records the conversation going on in the cockpit. In case of a crash, both the recorders prove to be very useful for analysing the cause of crash and helping designers to produce safer planes.

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