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Who Invented
The Black Box?
By Geoffrey Thomas
hile Australian, the life of Mr Orgill who committed – a tale of a man who was an
late David Warren, suicide in 1964 – homeless electrical genius but far too
W is credited as the and penniless and without, it trusting.
inventor of the black box flight would seem, anything to dis-
recorder, a Perth, Australia, tinguish his 40 years. As a young man in the early
man Robert Henry Orgill actu- 1950s Mr Orgill opened the
ally test flew his similar device However, a 1998 investigation World-Wide Electrics shop in
two years earlier in 1956. by The West Australian news- Perth which was a landmark
papers chief feature editor because of the huge, illumi-
New photos uncovered have Norm Aisbett and the author nated world globe he mounted
shed more light on the tragic found a very different story on the roof.
Mr R H Orgill, inventor of an aircraft safety unit of an aircraft safety unit, shows his device to
representatives of Australian instrument companies before they embarked on a flight to test the
invention at Essendon Airport, Melbourne, in February 1957 - The device would be wired to vulnerable
parts of the aircraft and in the event of a crash it would be examined for information revealing the
sequence of events leading to the crash - It also contains a small tape recorder. Mr Warren is second
from right. Australian National Archives colourised by Benoit Vienne.
ASIAN AIRLINES & AEROSPACE OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2023 | 29
