Friday, May 30, 2008

Black boxes are not black

As the name itself suggests, 'Black boxes' in commercial airplanes are black by most people's assumptions, as the case was with me. But I recently learned that black boxes are not black, rather they are bright orange or red in most commercial airplanes.

Interestingly, in Boeing 747, the black boxes (there are two) are bright red and all other aviation electronic boxes are black :). The unique bright color helps locating the 'black box' quickly in case of an accident.

You can verify at: http://www.howstuffworks.com/black-box.htm