page_title: Flight recorder
section_title: Specifications
hierarchical_section_title: Flight recorder / Specifications
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: L'enregistreur de vol du Boeing 737-800 (vol Gol 1907). Les militaires brésiliens l'ont découvert le 29 septembre 2006 dans le nord du Mato Grosso, au Brésil. English: The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the Boeing 737-800 (Gol 1907) aircraft - The military found it on September 29, 2006 in northern Mato Grosso, Brazil Português: Caixa de gravação de voz do Boeing 737-800 da Gol, que caiu no norte de Mato Grosso no dia 29 de setembro, encontrada ontem (24) por militares.
context_page_description: A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. Flight recorders are also known by the misnomer black box—they are in fact bright orange to aid in their recovery after accidents.
  There are two different flight recorder devices: the flight data recorder preserves the recent history of the flight through the recording of dozens of parameters collected several times per second; the cockpit voice recorder preserves the recent history of the sounds in the cockpit, including the conversation of the pilots. The two devices may be combined in a single unit. Together, the FDR and CVR objectively document the aircraft's flight history, which may assist in any later investigation.
  The two flight recorders are required by international regulation, overseen by the International Civil Aviation Organization, to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft accident. For this reason, they are typically specified to withstand an impact of 3400 g and temperatures of over 1,000 °C, as required by EUROCAE ED-112.
context_section_description: The design of today's FDR is governed by the internationally recognized standards and recommended practices relating to flight recorders which are contained in ICAO Annex 6 which makes reference to industry crashworthiness and fire protection specifications such as those to be found in the European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment documents EUROCAE ED55, ED56 fiken A and ED112 (Minimum Operational Performance Specification for Crash Protected Airborne Recorder Systems). In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates all aspects of US aviation, and cites design requirements in their Technical Standard Order, based on the EUROCAE documents (as do the aviation authorities of many other countries).
  Currently, EUROCAE specifies that a recorder must be able to withstand an acceleration of 3400 g (33 km/s²) for 6.5 milliseconds. This is roughly equivalent to an impact velocity of 270 knots (310 mph; 500 km/h) and a deceleration or crushing distance of 45 cm (18 in). Additionally, there are requirements for penetration resistance, static crush, high and low temperature fires, deep sea pressure, sea water immersion, and fluid immersion.
  EUROCAE ED-112 (Minimum Operational Performance Specification for Crash Protected Airborne Recorder Systems) defines the minimum specification to be met for all aircraft requiring flight recorders for recording of flight data, cockpit audio, images and CNS / ATM digital messages and used for investigations of accidents or incidents. When issued in March 2003 ED-112 superseded previous ED-55 and ED-56A that were separate specifications for FDR and CVR. FAA TSOs for FDR and CVR reference ED-112 for characteristics common to both types.
  In order to facilitate recovery of the recorder from an aircraft accident site they are required to be coloured bright yellow or orange with reflective surfaces. All are lettered "FLIGHT RECORDER DO NOT OPEN" on one side in English and "ENREGISTREUR DE VOL NE PAS OUVRIR"  in French on the other side. To assist recovery from submerged sites they must be equipped with an underwater locator beacon which is automatically activated in the event of an accident.
caption: Cockpit voice recorder memory module of PR-GTD, a Gol Transportes Aéreos Boeing 737-8EH SFP, found in the Amazon in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
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