Attention Media - Get With The Times
 

Is it just me, or are other aviation professionals sick to death of the media calling Cockpit Voice and Flight Data Recorders "Black Boxes" ??

The industry hasn't specifically called these units "black boxes" ever since I can remember, and I believe that the term originated as a generic description for avionics equipment back in the dark ages.

TO THE MEDIA - ITS A COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER AND/OR A FLIGHT DATA RECORDER. EVERY TIME YOU CALL THESE DEVICES BLACK BOXES YOU SOUND LIKE IDIOTS, AND CLEARLY LACK THE PROFESSIONALISM (UNDERSTANDING??) TO REFER TO THINGS BY THEIR CORRECT NAME. PLEASE STOP IT.

One might argue that the media are referring to the equipment in terms that the public understands, and I counter this argument with a number of points........

1. Content in the media should be accurate, particularly in the news, using incorrect terminology is misleading.

2. The term cockpit voice recorder is widely recognised and self explanatory.

3. Part of the medias role, and increasingly more so is education, and using correct terminology is vital in education.

4. If you don't agree with the above, it's time you went back to calling Uluru Ayres Rock.

The media often attracts criticism for it's poor reporting on aviation incidents, and it's easy to see that much of this criticism is justified when writers continue to make fundamental mistakes like this. I hope that the media is smart enough to take this under advisement.

For the sake of correctness;

It ain't Ayres Rock it's Ayers Rock...
:E

Uluru will always be Ayers Rock to me. As for the statement that:This is the reason that most of the general population are ignorant morons. With the exception of the ABC, the commercial media stations in Australia and their news programs are garbage. The news is all sensationalised because they are ratings driven. This drives out any checks or balances that may have been there to ensure the accuracy of the news being presented to the public.

A variation of Gaudere's Law .

By the time these devices are recovered, aren't they usually black?

History Lesson
 

An Aussie David Warren started off the BLACK BOX and I believe the originals were encased in Bakerlite as this was a tough mouldable material and is generally black in colour. Now they are orange or similar, but possibly black in the event of a nasty!

Read here for more

http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/blackbox.html

J:ok:

Pullock

Don't know how you bring the Ayers Rock thing into a post on Data recorders, but check out the facts.

Airports are named after the community they serve. Ayers Rock airport serves the Ayers Rock village. Check you maps and Jepp charts sometime.

Also a drive along the Lasseter Highway would help as you would note the road signs refering to Ayers Rock village. The NT Government puts up the signs. You'd reckon they'd know the name of the joint.

That big lump of rock nearby can be called by either name.

Pillock ooer I mean Pullock ;)

Not really an issue. It gets the idea across and like Ayers Rock can be called either.

I've heard news reports that use the correct terminology, good on them but no big deal.

"black box" is almost a generic term in electronics for something that data flows into and is either stored or processed before being spat out in some other form.

I make stuff that feeds into what I often refer to as a "black box", essentially an analog to digital converter, then back into the computer for the computer to work with before displaying the resulting action on the screen.

Yes, this is an extremely serious issue that should have been addressed years ago so we need to thank Puller........ I mean Pullock for having the courage to bring it to the surface. I'm sure the editorial heads of Fairfax and News Limited have totally messed their pants about this and are immediately retraining journalists to refrain from using such inaccurate terms.

Perhaps they will also stop the disgusting practice of using the misleading term "Jets" to describe large, transport category, gas turbofan powered airliners also.

Good to see that the big issues are being addressed out there. Well done to our man on the scene, Reporter Puller.