David Warren - Inventor of the Black Box

David Warren - Inventor of the Black Box
David Warren


David Ronald de Mey Warren (March 20, 1925 - 19 July 2010) is an Australian scientist, known for creating and developing a flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder (also known as the FDR and CVR, or "black box"). David Warren was born on Groote Eylandt, an island off the coast of Northern Territory. He was the first child of European descent who were born on the island. He was sent to school in Launceston in Tasmania's Grammar School and Trinity Grammar School in Sydney. His father died in an accident 1934 Bass Strait air. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science.


Black box or black box is a set of devices used in transportation - generally refers to the flight data recorders (flight data recorder; FDR) and cockpit voice recorders (cockpit voice recorder; CVR) in aircraft. Function of its own black box is to record a conversation between the pilot and guide traffic or air traffic control (ATC) and to learn about air pressure and weather conditions during flight. Although the so-called black box but the box is not really black but orange (orange).



It is intended to facilitate the search when the plane crashed. The placement of the black box is done in such a way that is easy to find. Generally there are two units of a black box placed in front of the plane and the tail, which is believed to be an integral part found. Warren became principal research scientist at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation Aeronautical Research Laboratory in Melbourne 1952-1983. While there, he came up with the idea for the cockpit voice recorder while investigating a plane crash in the world's first commercial jet. aircraft, the Comet, in 1953, after seeing the mini voice recorder at a trade show. "If employers have been using one on the plane and we can find it in ruins and we play again, we'll say, 'We know what is causing this.'", Warren later recalled. "Every vote that is relevant to what's going to be recorded and you can take them out of the rubble." While the device has previously been used to record certain flight parameters, they do not include sound recordings, and can not be reused, and therefore not practical for routine commercial flights.


The discovery of Warren, which rely on magnetic recording media, allowed to remove easily and re-recording, which makes it practical for regular line service. The concept of cockpit voice recordings Warren adds a new dimension to the flight instrument data recorder, and has proven very valuable for the investigation of accidents. Interestingly, several accidents in which the CVR play an important role not resolved with the recorded sound crew, another coincidence but by the sound recorded on the CVR, which provides important clues to the cause of the accident.


Warren died July 19, 2010, at age 85, in Melbourne. He was buried in a coffin bearing the label "Flight Recorder Inventor: Do Not Open" .. Warren made Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in honor of Australia Day in 2002. In 2007, Warren is included in the "Top 100 living geniuses" list compiled by a panel of six experts in creativity and innovation of Synectics creator. On November 2008, Qantas A380 as one of their Airbus after Warren in honor of his services to aviation.

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