Airplane flight recorders are often the most crucial element in finding out what happened during a plane crash. There are two airplane “black boxes” (which are not even black) — one stores cockpit audio recordings, the other stores airplane instrument data.
This short video from Vox gives a little background into the history of the flight recorder and the role they play in air crash investigations. If you have a fear of flying though you may get a bit squeamish.
Watch the video here: Airplane black boxes, explained