00:00 This episode is about black box flight recorders and why airplanes aren't made out of black box material.

04:30 Black boxes are not actually black, but are bright orange with reflective tape, and they were originally called black boxes either because the original ones were black or because the boxes would become charred in the wreckage and turn black.

08:40 In 2008, the FAA mandated the use of solid state digital recorders for black boxes instead of magnetic recorders, which allowed for longer recording time, smaller and more durable media, and easier data retrieval.

13:02 Black boxes are designed to capture not only the sounds leading up to a plane crash, but also the ambient noise that could provide clues to what happened, and experts are trained to listen for specific sounds that could indicate certain events or problems.

17:18 Flight data recorders, or black boxes, can record up to 700 types of data, including when switches are turned on, but the airline industry is resistant to recording more parameters due to cost, and the FAA has a history of delaying upgrades to the equipment.

21:34 Black boxes are designed to withstand crash impacts, puncture tests, pressure tests, fire tests, deep sea immersion tests, saltwater submersion tests, and exposure to various fluids before being installed in an airplane.

25:58 Black boxes are designed to withstand crash impacts, puncture tests, pressure tests, fire tests, deep sea immersion tests, saltwater submersion tests, and exposure to various fluids before being installed in an airplane.

30:28 Black boxes can be transported in saltwater to a lab where the data can be downloaded, and the flight data recorder data can be used to create a computer model of the plane to show what it was doing at the time of the crash, while the cockpit voice recorder takes longer to piece together and often requires the assistance of various experts.

34:39 The purpose of the black box is not just to satisfy curiosity, but to learn from tragedy and improve airplane safety in the future.

38:43 This section does not contain any relevant information related to the topic of black boxes and airplane safety.