Some have suggested that it stems from Hussenot's device because it used film and “ran continuously in a light-tight box, hence the name ‘black box,'” according to Airbus, which noted that orange was the box's chosen color from the beginning to make it easy to find.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it has recovered a cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the American Airlines plane that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport late Wednesday.