dc16
- dEsPeraTe cRaNky -
David Warren, a pioneering Australian scientist who invented the 'black box' after investigating the world's first jet airliner crash in 1953, has died.
He was 85.
Warren, who died on Monday at a Melbourne nursing home, was involved in investigating the mystery crash in 1953 of the world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, as it was en route to Australia.
The challenge of determining the causes of the accident led him to the idea of a recording device that could withstand a crash where there were no survivors and no witnesses, AAP reported.
While working at Melbourne's Aeronautical Research Laboratory, he advocated voice recorders be used in the cockpit, designing and constructing the world's first black box prototype - the ARL - in 1956.
Black boxes, a crucial instrument in aviation safety, are now installed in passenger airlines and other forms of transport around the world.
His idea sparked little interest in Australia, but Warren worked with colleagues to produce the ARL Flight Memory Unit, a prototype black box that recorded the pilot's voice and instrument readings for four hours on steel wire, in 1956.
Flight recorders have always been brightly painted to make them easier to spot in aircraft wreckage and the term 'black box' is believed to have been originally applied in a UK meeting to convey the sense of a magical invention or gadget.
Airliners globally are now required to carry both cockpit and flight-data recorders and information collected from the devices has been essential to determining the cause of many crashes.
A Qantas A380 aircraft of the Australian airline was named after Warren in 2008.
Warren is survived by his wife Ruth, four children and seven grandchildren.
He was 85.
Warren, who died on Monday at a Melbourne nursing home, was involved in investigating the mystery crash in 1953 of the world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, as it was en route to Australia.
The challenge of determining the causes of the accident led him to the idea of a recording device that could withstand a crash where there were no survivors and no witnesses, AAP reported.
While working at Melbourne's Aeronautical Research Laboratory, he advocated voice recorders be used in the cockpit, designing and constructing the world's first black box prototype - the ARL - in 1956.
Black boxes, a crucial instrument in aviation safety, are now installed in passenger airlines and other forms of transport around the world.
His idea sparked little interest in Australia, but Warren worked with colleagues to produce the ARL Flight Memory Unit, a prototype black box that recorded the pilot's voice and instrument readings for four hours on steel wire, in 1956.
Flight recorders have always been brightly painted to make them easier to spot in aircraft wreckage and the term 'black box' is believed to have been originally applied in a UK meeting to convey the sense of a magical invention or gadget.
Airliners globally are now required to carry both cockpit and flight-data recorders and information collected from the devices has been essential to determining the cause of many crashes.
A Qantas A380 aircraft of the Australian airline was named after Warren in 2008.
Warren is survived by his wife Ruth, four children and seven grandchildren.
to Mr. David 
