15. A flight data recorder of an aircraft comprising: a communications interface configured to receive flight data containing one or more words from a flight data acquisition unit; a data storage device configured to store received flight data in a memory; and a compression processor configured to perform the following: compare a set of words corresponding to a first data frame to a set of words corresponding to a second data frame, wherein the second data frame corresponds to a data frame previously received; identify a word block of consecutive unchanged words, a word block of consecutive changed words, or a word block containing one changed word followed by one unchanged word; when a word block of consecutive unchanged words is identified, generate an 8-bit skip header identifying a number of words in the word block of consecutive unchanged words, and transmit the 8-bit skip header; when a word block of consecutive changed words is identified, generate an 8-bit read header identifying a number of words in the word block of consecutive changed words, and transmit the 8-bit read header and the word block; and when a word block contains one changed word followed by one unchanged word, generate an 8-bit read header identifying a number of words in the word block, and transmit the 8-bit read header and the word block; wherein each word block comprises at least 2 words and a maximum size of each word block is 254 words.
15. A flight data recorder of an aircraft comprising: a communications interface configured to receive flight data containing one or more words from a flight data acquisition unit; a data storage device configured to store received flight data in a memory; and a compression processor configured to perform the following: compare a set of words corresponding to a first data frame to a set of words corresponding to a second data frame, wherein the second data frame corresponds to a data frame previously received; identify a word block of consecutive unchanged words, a word block of consecutive changed words, or a word block containing one changed word followed by one unchanged word; when a word block of consecutive unchanged words is identified, generate an 8-bit skip header identifying a number of words in the word block of consecutive unchanged words, and transmit the 8-bit skip header; when a word block of consecutive changed words is identified, generate an 8-bit read header identifying a number of words in the word block of consecutive changed words, and transmit the 8-bit read header and the word block; and when a word block contains one changed word followed by one unchanged word, generate an 8-bit read header identifying a number of words in the word block, and transmit the 8-bit read header and the word block; wherein each word block comprises at least 2 words and a maximum size of each word block is 254 words. 16. The flight data recorder of claim 15 , wherein the flight data are ARINC (Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated) 717 data.