The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently urged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to require all existing airplanes install a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and a flight data recorder capable of recording 25 hours of audio, instead of the current standard of two hours.
“CVRs are among the most valuable tools for accident investigation because they provide contemporaneous information on flight crew intentions and coordination as well other factors, such as procedural compliance, workload, fatigue, and situational awareness,” Tim LeBaron, of NTSB Office of Aviation Safety director, said. “This information is critical to our ability to conduct more thorough investigations and target safety recommendations more effectively.”
Since 2018, there have been at least 14 NTSB investigations hampered because data was overwritten. That year the agencies issued two CVR recommendations to the FAA: that all newly manufactured airplanes be fitted with a CVR capable of recording the last 25 hours of audio, and retrofit existing aircraft by Jan. 1, 2024.
The FAA asserted that retrofitting would be too expensive. The NTSB responded that retrofitting would apply to less than half of the 29,561 aircraft the FAA estimated in its cost/benefit analysis.
The FAA recently announced plans to require 25-hour CVRs in newly manufactured aircraft, but this doesn’t affect the current fleet.