flight recorder

American  

noun

1. an electronic device aboard an aircraft that automatically records some aspects of the aircraft's performance in flight.

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flight recorder British  

noun

1. Also called: black box.  an electronic device fitted to an aircraft for storing information concerning its performance in flight. It is often used to determine the cause of a crash

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Etymology

Origin of flight recorder

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flight recorder

As part of the investigation into the incident, the agency confirmed that it’s gathering radar, weather and flight recorder data.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2025

Investigators have now recovered flight recorder data and are working hard to find out.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2025

The plane is not required to have a flight recorder but it is possible and there are other avionics equipment that will have data that they can examine, Gerhardt said.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 5, 2023

The other flight recorder, presumably the one whose recovery was announced on Sunday, is used to store information about the plane’s motion, speed, altitude and mechanical performance.

From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2022

Here is the flight recorder transcript of the final thirty minutes of KAL flight 801: It begins with the captain complaining of exhaustion.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell