Original version

BBC World Service Australasia

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: Inventing the black box

Documentaries

Inventing the black box

01/11/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Inventing the black box

In 1962 a prototype of the cockpit flight recorder was tested in Australia

In the early 1950s an Australian chemist had an idea that would change flying forever. In 1962 he saw his revolutionary invention take flight.

On 23 March 1962, a prototype of the first cockpit flight recorder, the black box, was tested in Australia.  

In the early 1950s, fuel scientist David Warren, who worked in the Australian government’s aeronautical research laboratories, attended a talk about the reasons for a recent plane crash.  

David thought that if only he could speak to a survivor, he’d have a much better idea of what caused the crash and could prevent future ones.  

This led him to develop a recorder that would collect vital information of the last few hours before a plane goes down.  

Today the modern equivalent of the black box is compulsory equipment on passenger planes all over the world.  

In 2015, David’s children, Jenny and Peter Warren, and a former colleague, Bill Schofield, spoke with Catherine Davis about how his idea changed air travel forever.  

(Photo: The flight data recorder known as a black box used in aircraft. Credit: Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

Inventing the black box

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Australasia

About BBC World Service