The FAA yesterday issued a Press Release regarding proposed rules to require upgrades to existing and future Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR’s) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR’s). They also released a Fact Sheet summarizing the major changes in the proposed rules.
The NTSB issued a Statement regarding the proposed rules that supported the changes included in the proposed rules that the NTSB has been recommending for quite some time. However, the statement also encouraged the FAA to adopt “other crucial flight recorder recommendations that are still on the Most Wanted List.” Those recommendations include “rectifying the unacceptable FDR data sampling and filtering issues that impeded the investigation of the Airbus A-300-600 involved in the American Airlines Flight 587 accident” and installation of cockpit image recorders.
The proposed rule would apply to newly manufactured airplanes and helicopters and would require some retrofits to existing aircraft. Specifically, “manufacturers of airplanes and helicopters certificated for 10 or more seats, scheduled service airlines, non-scheduled service airlines and other operators of airplanes with 10 or more seats would be affected.” Although a copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking will not be published in the Federal Register until February 28, 2005, it can be reviewed at the FAA’s website here.
Comments to the proposed rules will be due by April 29, 2005 and can be submitted via any of the methods provided in the proposed rule.
