Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe “black box” is usually not one device—and it is not usually black. Most large commercial aircraft use two crash-protected recorders: a cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which stores cockpit audio, and a flight data recorder (FDR), which stores selected information about the aircraft’s motion, systems, engines and controls.
Together, they help investigators reconstruct a flight. They are not, however, an unlimited video diary or a recording of everything that happened inside the airplane.
The short answer
| Recorder | What it mainly records |
|---|---|
| CVR | Cockpit voices, radio transmissions, interphone and public-address audio where applicable, alarms and other cockpit-area sounds |
| FDR | Altitude, airspeed, heading, attitude, engine information, flight controls, aircraft configuration and selected system data |
Some aircraft use a combination recorder that performs both jobs in one crash-protected unit. The exact arrangement depends on the aircraft, its certification category, manufacturing date and the rules that apply to its operation. The NTSB’s overview of flight recorders explains the distinction.
What does the cockpit voice recorder hear?
The CVR is connected to several audio sources in or associated with the cockpit. Depending on the aircraft and installation, it can record:
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- Radio communications sent and received by the flight crew
- Pilot communications over the interphone
- Public-address announcements and connected crew communications
- Navigation or approach-aid audio played through headsets or cockpit speakers
- Audio from the cockpit-area microphone
The cockpit-area microphone can capture pilot speech as well as sounds that establish the timing of events. These may include engine and aerodynamic noise, stall warnings, alarm tones, landing-gear movement, switch clicks, impacts and other unusual sounds.
That does not mean the CVR is a microphone for the entire aircraft. Ordinary conversations among passengers in the cabin are not generally what it is designed to record. Cabin crew may be heard when communicating with the cockpit through an applicable interphone or public-address system, but the CVR is primarily focused on the flight crew compartment and connected communications.
What does the flight data recorder measure?
The FDR stores a coded stream of selected aircraft parameters. It does not necessarily save a raw video copy of every cockpit display. The number, precision and sampling rate of the parameters vary by aircraft and recorder installation.
Flight path and motion
- Time
- Pressure altitude
- Airspeed
- Heading
- Pitch, roll and other attitude information
- Vertical acceleration and rates of change
Aircraft configuration
- Landing-gear position
- Flap and slat position
- Spoiler position
- Flight-control movement
- Thrust-reverser status
- Brakes and ground spoilers where connected
Engines and propulsion
- Engine speed
- Thrust-related or power-setting information
- Fuel-flow or engine-condition data where installed
- Engine warnings and exceedances
Automation and flight controls
- Autopilot and autothrottle modes
- Flight-director commands
- Flight-control-system states
- Selected altitude, heading and speed
- Automatic warnings and system modes
Aircraft systems and alerts
- Fire or smoke warnings
- Hydraulic, electrical and pressurization states
- Warning and caution indications
- Doors, sensors and other connected equipment
The NTSB says newly manufactured aircraft must monitor at least 88 important parameters under relevant U.S. requirements, while some recorders can capture more than 1,000 additional characteristics. Those figures illustrate the scale of modern recording systems; they are not universal specifications for every aircraft.
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Some aircraft also record navigation or position-related parameters. However, it is inaccurate to assume that every FDR stores a continuous GPS track in exactly the same way as a smartphone. The available information depends on the aircraft’s navigation systems, recorder configuration and applicable requirements.
What black boxes do not normally record
Neither recorder is intended to be a complete archive of the flight. In particular, a typical commercial-aircraft installation does not provide:
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- A continuous recording of every passenger-cabin conversation
- Ordinary passenger-cabin video
- A guaranteed, identical GPS track on every aircraft
- An unlimited historical record
- A direct record of what a pilot was thinking, seeing or intending
Cockpit video is a separate technology. The NTSB says cockpit image recorders are not universally mandated in U.S. commercial airliner cockpits, although it has advocated for crash-protected cockpit image recording.
How long do black boxes record?
Recorders generally operate as loops. When storage is full, the oldest material is overwritten by new material. This means a recovered recorder may contain only the most recent period of a flight—or the preceding set number of hours—rather than the aircraft’s entire operating history.
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For many covered aircraft, current U.S. and European requirements call for at least 25 hours of flight data. Applicability depends on the aircraft category, certification and manufacturing date. The U.S. recorder rule sets out those requirements.
Cockpit audio
CVR duration is more complicated. Many aircraft remain subject to a two-hour requirement, while U.S. rules are phasing in 25-hour cockpit voice recording for specified newly manufactured aircraft:
- Relevant transport-category aircraft manufactured on or after May 16, 2025, with 30 or more passenger seats fall under the 25-hour requirement.
- Aircraft or rotorcraft with a maximum certified takeoff weight of at least 59,525 pounds and 29 or fewer passenger seats have a stated date of February 2, 2027.
- Aircraft or rotorcraft at or below 59,524 pounds have a stated date of February 2, 2029.
These dates are specific to the United States and do not instantly convert every aircraft already in service. EASA rules also distinguish between aircraft categories, certification dates and the applicable two-hour or 25-hour requirement. The 2026 U.S. final rule provides the relevant phase-in details.
Why can important audio be missing?
The loop-recording system creates a serious limitation. If investigators cannot secure power or recover a recorder promptly, earlier audio may be overwritten. A two-hour CVR may therefore lose the beginning of a long emergency while continuing to record its final stages.
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Other problems can affect the evidence:
- The recorder may not be recovered.
- Fire, impact, water or corrosion may damage its memory or connections.
- Power may be interrupted.
- A parameter may not have been connected or recorded correctly.
- Data may be corrupted or difficult to synchronize with other evidence.
- Audio may be hard to understand because of noise, overlapping speech or physical damage.
“Crash-survivable” does not mean indestructible, and the survival of a recorder does not guarantee that every byte or word will be usable.
How do black boxes survive crashes?
The actual recording memory is enclosed in a heavily protected structure designed to withstand conditions that would destroy ordinary electronics. Features can include:
- Crash-protected memory
- High-impact resistance
- Fire resistance
- Water-pressure resistance
- Protective housing and insulation
- Installation in a relatively survivable part of the aircraft, commonly toward the rear
NTSB reference specifications include tolerance of a 3,400-g impact over 6.5 milliseconds, resistance to a 1,100°C fire for 30 minutes and water-pressure resistance equivalent to submergence at 20,000 feet. These are reference specifications, not a promise that every historical or small-aircraft recorder has identical capabilities.
What is the underwater “pinger”?
An underwater locator beacon is attached to or installed with many recorders. When immersed, it emits an acoustic signal at approximately 37.5 kHz. Search teams use specialized receivers to locate the recorder underwater.
The beacon is not a live tracker and does not transmit the recorder’s stored data during flight. Its battery life and transmission duration are separate from the recorder’s storage capacity. EASA requirements for applicable non-deployable equipment specify at least 90 days of underwater transmission.
Some systems may use deployable emergency-location equipment instead of a conventional arrangement. Overwater recovery can still be difficult if a beacon separates, its battery expires or the wreckage is deeply submerged.
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Do black boxes transmit data during flight?
Usually not. Conventional CVRs and FDRs primarily record and store information onboard. Other aircraft systems may transmit operational information through ACARS, ADS-B, satellite communications, airline health-monitoring systems or maintenance data links, but those systems are not the black box itself.
Applicable rules can also require recording certain datalink messages when the aircraft has the relevant equipment. That does not mean every aircraft records every digital communication.
How investigators use the recordings
Investigators extract the contents with specialized equipment, then combine them with other evidence. CVR audio may be transcribed and analyzed for communications, warnings, timing and crew coordination. FDR data can be converted into charts, animations and reconstructed flight profiles.
The recorders are most useful when synchronized with:
- Air-traffic-control recordings
- Radar and ADS-B data
- Weather information
- Aircraft maintenance records
- Wreckage and component examinations
- Operator and manufacturer data
- Witness accounts and crew procedures
In the United States, cockpit audio is subject to special legal restrictions. The public does not routinely receive raw CVR audio from an accident investigation; the NTSB may prepare a written transcript under regulated circumstances. FDR information is more often presented through factual reports, plots and reconstructions.
Why longer recording time is not a simple upgrade
Longer CVR storage can preserve the earlier stages of an emergency and reveal problems from previous flights. It also raises legitimate privacy, security, access and retention concerns for crews and operators.
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Likewise, recording more FDR parameters can improve an investigation, but raw data remains useful only when investigators understand each parameter’s meaning, calibration, accuracy, sampling rate, source and synchronization. More data is not automatically clearer data.
Regulatory changes have also addressed issues such as physical separation between recorders and power-supply reliability. Separating systems can reduce the risk that one localized failure destroys both sources of evidence, but it adds installation and certification complexity.
Do all aircraft have the same recorders?
No. Large commercial airliners, small aircraft, helicopters and older aircraft can have different requirements and configurations. Relevant differences include:
- Whether a CVR, FDR or combination recorder is required
- How long each recorder must retain information
- Which parameters must be recorded
- Whether datalink messages are included
- Whether the aircraft has a conventional or deployable locator system
- When the aircraft was manufactured or certified
Quick-access recorders and maintenance data devices may store additional operational information, but not every removable data device is a crash-protected “black box.”
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The bottom line
The CVR tells investigators what the cockpit sounded like; the FDR tells them how the aircraft and its systems were behaving. Together, they can reveal the chain of events leading to an accident, but they do not record everything, cannot read anyone’s thoughts and do not have identical capabilities on every aircraft. The exact answer depends on the aircraft and the rules that apply to it.
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