- David Warren (inventor)
-
David Waren 
Warren with a prototype of a black boxBorn 20 March 1925
Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, AustraliaDied 19 July 2010 (aged 85)
Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaNationality Australian Alma mater University of Sydney Known for Flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder David Ronald de Mey Warren AO (20 March 1925 – 19 July 2010) was an Australian scientist, best known for inventing and developing the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder (also known as FDR and CVR, or "the black boxes").[1]
Contents
Early life
David Warren was born on Groote Eylandt, an island off the coast of the Northern Territory. He was the first child of European descent born on the island. He was sent to school at Launceston Grammar School in Tasmania and Trinity Grammar School in Sydney.
His father died in a 1934 Bass Strait air crash.[2]
He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science.[3]
Work
Warren became the principal research scientist at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation's Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne from 1952 to 1983.[4] While there, he came up with the idea for the cockpit voice recorder after investigating a crash of the world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, in 1953. He thought it would be helpful for airline accident investigators to have a recording of voices in the cockpit.[4] While devices had been previously used to record certain flight parameters, they did not include voice recording, and were not reusable, and therefore were not practical for routine commercial flights. Warren's invention, which relied on magnetic recording media, allowed easy erasing and re-recording, which made it practical for routine line service. Warren's concept of cockpit voice recording added a new dimension to instrument data in flight recorders, and has proved extremely valuable for accident investigation. Interestingly, some accidents where the CVR played a prominent role were solved not by the crew's recorded voices, but by other sounds incidentally recorded on the CVR, which provided a vital clue to the accident cause.[5] (See also Flight recorder#History.)
Warren died 19 July 2010, at age 85, in Melbourne.[6] He was buried in a casket bearing the label "Flight Recorder Inventor; Do Not Open".[7]
Awards and honours
Warren was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Australia Day honours in 2002.[8]
In November 2008, Qantas named one of their Airbus A380s after Warren in honour of his services to aviation.[9]
Notes
- ^ The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder functionalities were originally combined inside one box.
- ^ Coopes, Amy (2010-07-20). "AFP: Aircraft 'black box' inventor dies in Australia". Google.com. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gGqP_CbWB1Lumbch6B0xdt-zKUfA. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
- ^ Dave Warren - Biography, Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
- ^ a b "Black box inventor dies, age 85". Telegraph. 2010-07-21. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7902124/Black-box-inventor-dies-age-85.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
- ^ "DATA COLLECTION AND IMPROVED TECHNOLOGIES". NTSB. May 20, 1998. http://www.ntsb.gov/speeches/s980520.htm.
- ^ Schudel, Matt (2010-07-22). "David Warren, inventor of 'black box' flight data recorder, dies at 85". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/21/AR2010072106185.html. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
- ^ Tsikas, Mick (2010-07-22). "History Recorder Remembered". Reuters/Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2010/07/23/pictures-of-the-day-july-23/. Retrieved 2010-07-26. (photo)
- ^ WARREN, David Ronald, It's an Honour, 2002.
- ^ Tribute to Nancy-Bird Walton, Qantas, 1 October 2008.
External links
Categories:- 1925 births
- 2010 deaths
- Australian scientists
- Australian inventors
- University of Sydney alumni
- Officers of the Order of Australia
- Recipients of the Centenary Medal
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
