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.

A commercial plane with 60 passengers and four crew members on board collided with a military helicopter with a crew of three near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.