Father and Son Cut a Plane's Black Box into Half to See What's Inside

Ever wondered what is actually inside a plane's flight recorder? Wonder no longer with this excellent video from the 'What's Inside' YouTube channel.
Jessica Miley

The adorable duo from YouTube channel ‘What’s Inside’ is at it again. This time they try and discover what is inside a plane’s black box. Or as they discover it’s a ‘red box’ as the plane data recorders are now painted red or orange to help be found easily after a plane crash. 

The formidable father and son team take the black box up in a helicopter and first try and inflict some damage on it, by dropping it out the window. When they land to pick it up, they discover the tough as nails box was barely scratched after it fell onto the hard lava rocks below. 

Next, up they ready themselves with a table saw and start hacking. After a serious amount of time, they manage to neatly saw the recorder in half and it's an interesting discovery in the interior. A thick steel coating protects the exterior of the box while on the inside there is a thick layer of insulation and a thinner layer of thermal protection to protect against extreme heat. Flight recorders or black boxes capture the history of the flight through a multitude of recording parameters collected several times per second. One of the most important aspects of the black box is the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) which records the sounds inside the cockpit, including conversations and radio calls from the pilots. This history of the flight can often be very important during crash investigations.