The First Flight Recorders Tape Flight Recorders Modern Flight Data Acquisition Units Cockpit Voice Recorders Flight Recorder Survival Flight Recorder Recovery References Introduction Flight recorders are used to store information about an aeroplane in flight.
Flight recorders are one of the primary sources of information when a plane crashes.
They were first used in the late 1940's to find the reason for accidents involving military aircraft. Cockpit voice recorders are a more modern safety device which were first legally required in 1965. While known as black boxes they are actually bright orange to aid with location. In 1958 a minimum design requirement was approved for all flight recorders. In 1960 the British Government required all passenger planes over 20,000lbs to carry flight recorders.