Black boxes, also known as flight recorders, are crucial to aviation safety. They are designed to withstand extreme conditions and record various types of flight data, as well as cockpit audio .

Current Federal Aviation Authority regulations only require black boxes to record two hours of flight audio, including pilots’ voices, any incoming or outgoing radio transmissions or any engine ...

Other theories include the boxes turning black when they get charred in a crash, the Smithsonian Magazine wrote in 2019. “The truth is much more mundane,” the magazine wrote.