Inventor. Born in Groote Eylandt in northern Australia, he was the inventor of the in-flight data recorder system, commonly known as the "black box." Warren began his career as a fuel chemist after graduating from the University of Sydney. He became one of the world's first investigators of jetliner crashes, following the 1953 fatal crash of a British built de Havilland Comet in India, that killed all 43 passengers and crew members. Unable to determine the cause of the crash, with no witnesses or survivors, he began work shortly thereafter on a device to record all cockpit flight conversations, and the plane's mechanical flight systems operations. By 1957 he had completed his first working prototype, capable of recording an aircraft's heading, airspeed, altitude, pitch and radio communications, coupled with the ability to survive heavy impact crashes, extreme fire and water pressures. He was invited to England the following year to work on improvements to his invention, and by the late 1950s his orange colored black boxes were being installed on US commercial aircraft. From 1952 to 1983 he worked as the principal research scientist at the Defense Science and Technology Research Laboratories in Melbourne, Australia. In 2002 he was the recipient of the Order of Australia for his contributions to improvements in commercial aviation safety and pilot training. Six years later, Quantas Airlines named the Airbus A380 aircraft in his honor. Warren died at a nursing home facility in Melbourne, Australia at the age of 85.
Inventor. Born in Groote Eylandt in northern Australia, he was the inventor of the in-flight data recorder system, commonly known as the "black box." Warren began his career as a fuel chemist after graduating from the University of Sydney. He became one of the world's first investigators of jetliner crashes, following the 1953 fatal crash of a British built de Havilland Comet in India, that killed all 43 passengers and crew members. Unable to determine the cause of the crash, with no witnesses or survivors, he began work shortly thereafter on a device to record all cockpit flight conversations, and the plane's mechanical flight systems operations. By 1957 he had completed his first working prototype, capable of recording an aircraft's heading, airspeed, altitude, pitch and radio communications, coupled with the ability to survive heavy impact crashes, extreme fire and water pressures. He was invited to England the following year to work on improvements to his invention, and by the late 1950s his orange colored black boxes were being installed on US commercial aircraft. From 1952 to 1983 he worked as the principal research scientist at the Defense Science and Technology Research Laboratories in Melbourne, Australia. In 2002 he was the recipient of the Order of Australia for his contributions to improvements in commercial aviation safety and pilot training. Six years later, Quantas Airlines named the Airbus A380 aircraft in his honor. Warren died at a nursing home facility in Melbourne, Australia at the age of 85.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
Advertisement
See more Warren memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
