10 Disturbing Things Heard on Cockpit Voice Recorders

They call them the “black boxes,” which is a bit of a misnomer, really. Should you ever have the profound misfortune of seeing one outside of a crash investigation, you’ll notice it’s painted a garish, not very subtle shade of orange—as bright as the “10-mile cloth” hunters wear—and for good reason: so it can be found.

This indestructible little marvel of engineering is one of two critical recorders tucked away in an aircraft’s tail. While its sibling, the Flight Data Recorder, dispassionately logs the aircraft’s every move, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) is the ghost in the machine.

Please read on to discover many more facts about one really creepy side of aviation…

Related: Ten Terrible Crashes That Changed Airplanes Forever

10 Western Airlines Flight 2605 CVR Recording—The Sound of a Fatal Error

On Halloween morning in 1979 (of all days), the crew of Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the “Night Owl,” was making an approach into Mexico City in dense fog. Air traffic control had cleared them to land on runway 23R, as the parallel runway, 23L, was closed for maintenance. This required a “sidestep” maneuver, a tricky procedure in low visibility where the crew follows the instrument landing system (ILS) for one runway before visually shifting to the other just before touchdown.

The CVR captures the crew’s fatal confusion. Though they acknowledged the clearance for runway 23R, they continued their approach directly toward the closed 23L. The transcript preserves the exact moment of dawning horror. Just as the DC-10’s wheels make contact, Captain Charles Gilbert is heard realizing their catastrophic mistake, exclaiming, “No, this is the approach to the bleeping left.” Less than a second later, the crew slams the throttles for a go-around, but it’s too late.

The CVR recording captures the sickening sound of the landing gear striking a dump truck parked on the closed runway. This is followed by what investigators described as a primal scream from the captain as the crippled jet, now mortally wounded, rolls uncontrollably and disintegrates upon striking a hangar and an Eastern Airlines service building. Of the 88 people on board, 72 were killed, along with a maintenance worker on the ground.^[1]

9 ValuJet Flight 592—The Cacophony of an Inferno

On May 11, 1996, ValuJet Flight 592 was climbing out of Miami when a fire erupted in the forward cargo hold. The source was a shipment of expired but live chemical oxygen generators that had been improperly packaged and loaded onto the plane. These generators, when activated, become intensely hot and self-oxygenating—creating a self-sustaining inferno that is nearly impossible to extinguish.

The CVR first picks up a loud bang, likely a tire in the cargo hold exploding from the heat. The pilots note an electrical failure. But the truly disturbing audio begins seconds later when a flight attendant opens the cockpit door—the intercom had failed—and the CVR’s area microphone is flooded with the sound of passengers shouting “Fire, fire, fire” from the cabin. The recording then captures the crew’s professional but increasingly desperate attempts to return to Miami as the plane’s systems are consumed by the blaze.

The fire was so intense that it began melting the floor beams and control cables. The final minutes of the recording are the most chilling. The voices of the pilots are replaced by the sounds of coughing, followed by an eerie silence from the flight deck in the seconds before the aircraft entered its final, fatal dive into the Everglades.^[2]

8 South African Airways Flight 295—The Mystery of the Helderberg Fire

On November 28, 1987, the SAA Boeing 747-200 Combi “Helderberg” plunged into the Indian Ocean while on approach to Mauritius. The crew had reported a fire in the main deck cargo hold. Still, its source remains one of aviation’s most enduring and darkest mysteries. The CVR itself is disturbing for what it lacks. The intense fire destroyed its power supply just 81 seconds after the fire alarm first sounded, leaving investigators with a tantalizingly incomplete fragment of the event.

The brief recording captures the initial alarm, the crew identifying a “main deck cargo” fire, and the captain’s perplexed comment, “It is the fact that both came on—it disturbs me,” suggesting an unusual and confusing failure.

The truly haunting audio comes from separate air traffic control recordings made after the CVR went dead. In one of the final, garbled transmissions, a pilot is heard saying something that defies standard procedure: “We’ve opened the door(s) to see if we can…” followed by another crew member shouting in Afrikaans, “Close the bloody door!” Opening a cabin door at altitude is considered physically impossible due to pressure differences, suggesting extreme confusion or desperation.^[3]

7 PSA Flight 182—The Banality of Disaster

It was a perfect, clear morning over San Diego on September 25, 1978. Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, a Boeing 727, was on a visual approach to Lindbergh Field. Air traffic control had advised the crew of a small Cessna 172 in their vicinity. The PSA crew reported seeing the Cessna, but then lost sight of it. Assuming they had passed the smaller plane, they continued their descent.

The CVR from Flight 182 is a terrifying study in how quickly the mundane can turn catastrophic. For several minutes, the recording captures the casual, relaxed chatter of the flight crew. Then, the tone shifts to one of slight uncertainty. “Are we clear of that Cessna?” the first officer asks. “Supposed to be,” another crew member replies. The captain adds, “I guess.” Eleven seconds later, the recording captures the first officer’s sudden realization, “There’s one underneath,” followed by the captain’s exclamation, “Whoop!” and a scream.

The sound of the mid-air collision is followed by the blare of the stall warning and the sound of the crippled jet falling from the sky. In the chaos of the final seconds, the captain is heard saying, “This is it!” and then, “Mom, I love you!” just before the recording ends.^[4]

6 Aeroperu Flight 603—Drowning in Data

On October 2, 1996, Aeroperu Flight 603 departed from Lima, Peru, for what should have been a routine flight. However, a maintenance worker had failed to remove masking tape from the static ports on the side of the fuselage after cleaning the aircraft. These ports are essential for the plane’s instruments to measure airspeed and altitude. With the ports blocked, the flight computers were immediately fed a stream of nonsensical data.

The resulting CVR is a 29-minute recording of pure technological torture. The pilots were bombarded with a cascade of contradictory alarms. They received overspeed warnings at the same time the stick shaker activated, warning of an aerodynamic stall—a physical impossibility. The cockpit became a chaotic symphony of horns, chimes, and confusion. Believing their instruments had failed, the pilots asked air traffic control for their altitude, not realizing the controller was reading the same faulty transponder data.

The final irony is that the one system that was working—the Ground Proximity Warning System—was ignored. As it screamed “TERRAIN! PULL UP!” the pilots, trusting their faulty altimeter showing 9,700 feet, continued their descent until the 757’s wing clipped the Pacific Ocean.^[5]

5 Japan Airlines Flight 123—The Agony of a Slow Demise

On August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123, a Boeing 747, suffered a catastrophic failure of its rear pressure bulkhead 12 minutes after takeoff from Tokyo. The explosive decompression blew off most of the aircraft’s vertical stabilizer and severed all four hydraulic lines, rendering the jet nearly uncontrollable.

What makes the CVR from JAL 123 so uniquely disturbing is its duration. For 32 agonizing minutes, the recorder captured the crew’s heroic and ultimately futile battle to fly the crippled aircraft. The audio is not of panic, but of intense, focused professionalism. The pilots used only differential engine thrust to steer the plane, fighting its wild oscillations. The soundscape is a barrage of alarms, strained commands (“Pull up! Pull up!”), and the flight engineer’s system reports.

The crew fought for every second of control until the plane slammed into a mountain, killing 520 of the 524 people on board. Some passengers are believed to have survived the initial impact but died awaiting rescue, which was delayed overnight.^[6]

4 Air France Flight 447—The Unseen Stall

In the early hours of June 1, 2009, an Air France Airbus A330 flew into a storm over the Atlantic Ocean. Ice crystals blocked its pitot tubes, making airspeed indicators unreliable and causing the autopilot to disengage. Manual control fell to the junior co-pilots while the captain rested.

The CVR captures a chilling record of confusion. The pilot at the controls, Pierre-Cédric Bonin, unintentionally pulled back on the sidestick, putting the plane into a climb it couldn’t sustain. This induced an aerodynamic stall. For the next four minutes, the stall alarm blared 75 times. Incredibly, none of the pilots seemed to grasp the situation or apply the correct recovery.

The most gut-wrenching moment comes near the end. After minutes of uncertainty, Bonin blurts out, “But I’ve had the stick back the whole time!” revealing the sustained, fatal error.^[7]

3 United Airlines Flight 93—The Recording of a Revolt

The CVR from United Flight 93 is unlike any other. On September 11, 2001, four al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked the Boeing 757. Through phone calls, passengers learned of the other attacks and realized their plane was part of a larger plot.

The CVR captures the hijackers’ initial commands, prayers in Arabic, and the passenger revolt. The area mic picks up the crash of a food cart used to ram the cockpit door. The hijackers are heard shouting, “Hold the door!” as passengers fight to get in. The cockpit shakes as the plane is maneuvered violently, but the passengers’ defiant cries—”Let’s get them!”—are heard until the very end.

The FBI has sealed the full recording, which has only been played privately for victims’ families.^[8]

2 Germanwings Flight 9525—The Horror of Intent

On March 24, 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 was cruising over the French Alps when Captain Patrick Sondenheimer left the cockpit. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had a history of mental health issues, including severe depression, locked the door and initiated a controlled descent into the mountains.

The CVR records a mass murder-suicide. Sondenheimer’s escalating efforts to break down the door are audible—he shouts, “Open the damn door!” Then, he uses what sounds like a metal object to try to force it. Inside, Lubitz’s calm breathing continues, eerily clear.

In the final moments, the “TERRAIN, PULL UP” warning blares as passengers scream in realization. The reinforced cockpit door, designed for safety, had become the tool of their murder.^[9]

1 Helios Airways Flight 522—The Haunting of a Ghost Flight

On August 14, 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522 took off from Cyprus with its cabin pressurization set to “MANUAL.” The crew missed the error during checks. As the Boeing 737 climbed, the cabin failed to pressurize. Oxygen levels dropped. At 12,040 feet, the cabin altitude alarm sounded—but the crew misidentified it.

The pilots and passengers gradually succumbed to hypoxia. The plane continued on autopilot for over two hours, flying in eerie loops over Athens. The CVR is hauntingly quiet—just engine hum and alarms—until the very end.

A flight attendant, Andreas Prodromou, using a portable oxygen tank, entered the cockpit. He issued five Mayday calls—none answered. The CVR ends with engine flameout from fuel exhaustion. Moments later, the plane crashes into a hillside, killing all 121 people aboard.^[10]