This is one of the black boxes that could unlock the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crash

• Crash investigators released the first picture of the black boxes from Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302.
• The photo, of the Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner's mangled flight data recorder, was published by the French government on Thursday.
• Flight ET302's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered on Monday and flown to Paris on Wednesday.

Crash investigators released the first picture of the black boxes from Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302. The photo, of the Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner's mangled flight data recorder, was published by the French government on Thursday.

Flight ET302's black boxes, a colloquial term used to describe an aircraft's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR), were recovered on Monday.

The recorders could provide investigators with key clues that may reveal the cause of the crash and ultimately solve the mystery of what's wrong with the Boeing 737 Max.

With US National Transportation Safety Board assisting in the investigation of the Renton, Washington-built plane, it was thought the black boxes would be sent to the US.

Instead, Ethiopian authorities handed over the recorders to the BEA, France's well-respected aviation investigation agency.

Read more: Trump announces all Boeing 737 Max jets are immediately grounded following its 2nd crash in 5 months.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, modern aircraft FDRs are required by law to records at least eight key parameters including time, altitude, airspeed, and the plane's attitude. However, more advanced recorders can monitors more than 1,000 parameters.

Older units used magnetic tape to record data, however, modern FDRs use digital technology that can record as much as 25 hours.

The cockpit voice recorder does just that. It records what's going on in the cockpit including radio transmissions, background noise, alarms, pilot's voices, and engine noises for as long as two hours.

Both recorders are stored in reinforced shells that are designed to survive 30 minutes in 2000-degree Fahrenheit heat and be submerged in 20,000 feet of water.

On Sunday, Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The incident, which killed all 157 passengers and crew on board, marked the second nearly-brand new Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner to crash in four months. Lion Air Flight JT610 crashed after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia on October 28.

Regulatory agencies and airlines in the more than 50 countries around the world including the US, have grounded the airliners. The Boeing 737 Max entered service in 2017. There are currently 371 of the jets in operation.

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