US aviation regulators are moving to extend the amount of time captured by crash-proof cockpit recorders after multiple recent cases in which they were overwritten.
(Bloomberg) — US aviation regulators are moving to extend the amount of time captured by crash-proof cockpit recorders after multiple recent cases in which they were overwritten.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Thursday it plans to require recorders capable of capturing 25 hours of cockpit sound, an increase over the current two-hour limit.
“The FAA is committed to addressing” recommendations on recorders issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency said in the statement, which came one day after it held a safety summit. The NTSB has been seeking longer recordings for years because of dozens of instances in which they failed to retain data more than two hours into a flight.
Read more: Vanishing Cockpit Recordings Are Impeding Probes of Near-Crashes
Bloomberg reported last month that the so-called black box sound recorders on six jetliners involved in four close calls since December weren’t available to investigators because crews continued on flights or neglected to shut off power to the devices to preserve the recordings. European regulators have enacted a similar 25-hour rule.
Such a change in federal rules in the US still faces hurdles. Pilot unions oppose increasing the length of recording time without additional privacy protections and it can be difficult for the FAA to justify new safety rules under White House requirements for a cost-benefit analysis.
“We welcome any tools or resources Congress wants to provide to help us do this expeditiously,” the FAA said in its statement.
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