Dr. David Warren: Google honors ‘black box’ inventor on his 96th birthday

Happy Birthday Dr. David Warren!

Google today celebrates 96th Birthday of David Warren, an Australian research scientist with an attractive doodle. He invented flight data and voice recording technology commonly known as “the black box”: a virtually indestructible device that has helped save the lives of countless travelers around the globe.

David Warren (originally named David Ronald de Mey Warren) was born in  March 20, 1925, on remote mission station on Groote Eylandt off the northern coast of Australia. He was the first white child born on the Island. He had three siblings.

David Warren completed his schooling from Launceston Church Grammar School and Trinity Grammar School, New South Wales. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree with Honors from the University of Sydney, and received his doctorate in fuels and energy from Imperial College London. After returning to Australia, he embarked on a 31-year career with the Commonwealth’s Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne.

In 1953, the ARL was tasked with investigating a mysterious crash of the world’s first jet-powered commercial aircraft. Confronted with the difficult task of reconstructing what went wrong, Dr. Warren had an ingenious idea. He envisioned a voice recording device that could capture cockpit conversations in real-time, providing critical insight into what happened before a crash to help prevent the same problems in the future.

Facing initial skepticism, Dr. Warren developed an experimental prototype on his own, creating the world’s first “black box” (though his model was actually painted red). The rudimentary device became the first with the capability to store audio in combination with flight instrument data, a monumental breakthrough in aviation technology.

While there, he came up with the idea for the cockpit voice recorder while investigating a crash of the world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, in 1953, after seeing a miniature voice recorder at a trade show. "If a businessman had been using one of these in the plane and we could find it in the wreckage and we played it back, we'd say, 'We know what caused this.'", Warren later recalled. "Any sounds that were relevant to what was going on would be recorded and you could take them from the wreckage."

Dr. David Warren died in July 19, 2010. Today, a modern equivalent of Dr. Warren’s invention is mandatory in cockpits worldwide, playing an integral role in the constant improvement of aviation safety standards.

Dr. David Warren won many awards and accolades during his lifetime and posthumously. In June 2012, the ACT Government named a road, David Warren Road, in the suburb of Hume. He was inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame on November 16, 2013.

Google honors Dr. David Warren for his noble dedication to making air travel safer for people throughout the world.

Also Read: Dona Militana: Brazilian singer receives honor from Google on 96th birthday