Originally they were tape, however modern FDR's use solid state technology to record unto 25hours of data.
The manual states FDR flight data recorder there is also the flightdeck voice recorder
There are a few things that every airliner in the world is required to have. Two of these are the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. The flight data recorder in a bright orange box typically weighs less then 20 pounds.
bright orange, black isn't easy to find in a crash site
Black box
The black boxes are two separate devices, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) Old CVRs recorded thirty minutes of sound, new data replacing old data. New CVRs record two hours of sound. FDRs can record 17-25 hours of data.
The black box flight recorder was invented in Australia by Dr. David Warren in the 1950s. The device was initially called the Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
Black Box
The "Black box".
If a plane crashes due to some cause then we can find out why the plane crashed with the help of Flight Data Recorder. If there is nothing they could find in the Flight Data Recorder, they could rely on the Cockpit Voice Recorder.
There are two types of black boxes aka flight recorder, the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR).
The Black Box Flight Recorder was invented to record important data from an aircraft to help investigators determine the cause of accidents or incidents. It provides valuable information such as flight data and cockpit conversations, aiding in improving air safety and understanding events that lead to crashes.
The 'Black Box' .The Black Box Flight Recorder is part of modern aircraft equipment as we still have air crashes. The other side of the flight data recorder is the flight deck voice recorder. Although most people still talk about a black box in fact it is painted bright orange to stand out from other parts of a crashed aircraft.