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The modern day flight and voice data recorders are vital for investigating aircraft accidents to help improve the safety of aircraft. These recorders are highly robust and capable of surviving the extreme environments present during an aircraft accident. Morgan Thermal Ceramics contributes to the construction of flight data recorders by providing Min-K® insulation, ensuring that the electronic recording systems within are protected from extremes of heat.

Min-K insulation for flight data recorders is manufactured at the Morgan Thermal Ceramics plant in Elkhart, Indiana. This microporous insulation is made into a board or shape consisting of fumed silica, opacifiers and high temperature fibres. The key component of the insulation for flight data recorders is the endothermic additives, which help to control the interior temperature of the box during a fire. This patented material was developed in the early 1990s in a joint effort between Morgan Thermal Ceramics (then Johns Manville) and a large flight data recorder customer. Morgan Thermal Ceramics completed the patent process after extensive development and trials to determine the best balance of materials to meet the extreme needs of this application.

Morgan Thermal Ceramics Min-K Insulation is used to protect a variety of voyage recorders including:

• Aircraft flight recorders
• Commercial shipping data recorders
• Train data recorders
• Other data storage applications

The extensive use of Min-K board is due to its patented endothermic nature. Essentially this means that it is capable of protecting the data storage devices in flight data recorders from the short term intense heat present in fires up to 2000⁰F.

Manufacturers don’t just come to Morgan Thermal Ceramics because they can custom build the insulation to fit any black box however, it is because we offer a full service that includes engineering assistance, design support and delivery of the fully installed data recorder package.

Min-K insulation plays a key role in protecting the recorders in many forms of transport. Ultimately it helps to improve safety by giving crash investigators the information they need to identify and prevent future accidents.