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Air Disasters Part 2: When is “orange” black?
Though called a ‘black box’, the metal case is orange, as the brighter colour makes it easier to identify in debris.
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Prabhjot Paul Singh - Wed, 25, Jun 2025
- 23:02 EDT
- 10
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Broken seats of Business Club of Air India aircraft on Toronto-Delhi sector. / Photo Courtesy of Prabhjot Singh Paul
After the bombing of Air India flight AI-182 (Toronto-Delhi) on June 23, 1983, news agencies covering the worst air disaster in history, while quoting aviation experts, started screaming about the “Black Box.” Not many had ever heard of a “black box” as something magical that could divulge not only whatever transpires between pilots and air traffic controllers (ATCs) en route on a flight but also the cockpit conversation between the pilots.
Those were the days when there were no social media handles or Google to search details online about “magic boxes” or “black boxes.” I remember late in the evening, when our then editor-in-chief, Mr. Prem Bhatia, walked into the newsroom. No one had any idea what Back Box was all about.
Also read: Air Disasters Part 1: Are they preventable, but why do they still happen?
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