According to A Better Black Box from the Sept. 2000 issue of Scientific American:

Nearly 100,000 flight recorders have been installed in commercial aircraft over the past four decades. The prices of the latest models generally range from $10,000 to $20,000. Their survival rate has greatly improved in recent years as the FAA has raised the certification requirements. Although older recorders using magnetic tape were susceptible to fire damage, no solid-state device has been destroyed in an accident to date.

See also this article from 9/11 Review, Flight 77 Black Boxes which notes;

If the cockpit voice data recorder was unrecoverable, it would be the first time in aviation history a solid-state data recorder (the type used on Flight 77) was unrecoverable after a crash.

(my emphasis)

As I understand it, the black boxes from Flights 11 and 175 were not recovered from the WTC crash site. See missing flight recorders poster andairplane fragments from the WTC debris pit, from the Smithsonian.

Finally, although I have not yet seen Belluck's article, I would just note in passing that if it were possible for someone to plant Sugami's passport, it would also be possible - and perhaps likely - for that same person, or an accomplice, to plant some accompanying or supporting documentation, so to speak.

Thanks for your interest and comments.
S