Flight recorders and aircraft safety

Abstract

This paper discusses flight recorders, particularly the digital flight data recorder. It includes an illustration of how this device provided data to National Transportation Safety Board investigators which, for the first time, proved that wind shear was a primary factor in an air carrier accident. It also discusses the need for technological development in the area of flight recorder systems, particularly in reducing costs, and in increasing reliability and maintainability of such systems, and in the development of compact, light weight, and inexpensive recorders for use in lighter jets and turboprop airplanes.