Why is the black box on and airplane orange?

Answer 1

Orange is easier to spot when looking for it after a crash. Black box is a general term for any piece of electronic equipment where you can't see the inner workings and it is only known by what it does.
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Answer 2

There is, however, a good reason they are orange.

I found the answer from an interview that the site howstuffworks.com conducted with Frank Doran, director of engineering for L-3 Communications Aviation Recorders.

According to Doran, the bright orange color, as well as reflective tape, are designed to help make the box more visible after an accident.

You could imagine the wreckage investigators have to sift through in looking for the box.

Doran said the color and reflective tape are particularly helpful when the plane is under water.

According to the site, there are two possible reasons for the term black box.

One possibility simply is because of the fact that early black boxes actually were black.

Another possibility is that it refers to the charring caused by the fires involved in a plane crash.

I've also read that the term "black box" has been used in science to discuss a structure in which the contents are unknown, much like the contents of the tape in the airplane's black box are unknown until the tape is retrieved and heard.

Since I'm on the subject, I'll just bet some of you are asking this often-asked question:

"If the black box is designed to survive an airplane crash, why don't they just make the whole plane out of the same material the black box is made of?"

I'm glad you asked.

First of all, I found out that the key component they look for in the black box is the recording itself. The black box is a protective cover, so if it gets damaged, it's OK.

So, if the plane itself were made up of black-box material, it still would be beaten up in the crash.

Also, keep in mind the plane is another layer protecting the box, which often is in the tail of the plane, the part that typically receives less damage in a crash.

Howstuffworks.com notes there are three layers of protection that make up the box:

The shell is made of stainless steel, which is about a quarter-inch thick. Sometimes, titanium is used for the shell.

Within that, there is insulation that withstands high temperatures. It's a dry-silica material that's about an inch thick. It's designed to protect against fires.

Within that, there is a thin layer of aluminum around the stack of memory cards that hold the voice recordings.

And here's an interesting tidbit concerning the future of black boxes: the Web site states some car manufacturers, such as General Motors, are putting the boxes in vehicles to help discover the cause of wrecks.

L-3 Communications also is working on improvements in the air, including a cockpit video recorder that could store images in solid-state memory

Answer 3

They are painted orange for improved visibility. However in most crashes there is fire and the boxes are charred black. Hence the phrase black box. It's kind a morbid nick name that has stuck around.

Answer 4

This question has been asked over and over and over...

Next time try searching for the answer...this one and "why do kamakazi pilots wear helmets".

The answer:

There are MANY black boxes in the avionics bay of an aircraft. So, if you were looking for one in particular (in this case, two) would it not be easier if they were a color easy to identify among the litter and wreckage?

It's a very simple premise. Its the same reason that escape rafts and life jackets are bright yellow. They are simply easier to find.

Answer 5

The "black box" is painted in a bright orange color so it is easier to locate after a crash, especially if there was a fire involved and everything is black.

Answer 6

The Home Depot next to the Black Box assembly plant was running this super deal on bright orange paint one weekend, and the plant manager bought like 900 cases of it. Once that's gone, they'll probably go back to black, unless the plant manager finds a deal on chartruse, brown, or egg shell white.

Answer 7

It's a technical term for a device or system or object when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics. Almost anything might occasionally be referred to as a black box: a transistor, an algorithm, humans, the Internet.

Answer 8

In a crash, almost everything ends up covered in dirt, soot, mud, or other grime. You want the boxes to be as easy as possible to find.

Answer 9

because the people who call it a black box don't know what they are talking about.

It is brightly colored (orange) to be found after a crash. It is actually called Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).

Answer 10

So they can be easily seen by a wreckage search team