The FAA today (Thursday) proposed a series of significant upgrades to aircraft "black boxes" that will increase the quality, quantity, and survivability of recorded data. 

Stronger cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder standards that require newer recording technology and greater recording frequency will ensure that more valuable data is retrieved from aircraft incidents and accidents, FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey said.

Under the proposed rules, all voice recorders must record the last two hours of cockpit audio instead of the currently required 15 to 30 minutes. Also, a 10-minute independent backup power source for the voice recorders would be required to allow recording even if all aircraft power sources were lost or interrupted.

Voice recorders also would have to use technology other than magnetic tape, which is vulnerable to damage and decreased reliability, Blakey said.

Airplanes (but not helicopters) currently in service would have to retrofit some of the equipment within four years of the rule’s effective date. The rule also mandates these enhancements on all newly built aircraft and helicopters two years from the effective date.

"Good data is often the key to deciphering what went wrong in an aircraft incident or accident," Blakey said.

"Increasing the likelihood that recorders yield crucial data improves overall safety by giving us the chance to analyze these events."

The proposed rule also clarifies operating requirements for voice recorders, which would have to operate continuously from when pilots begin their checklist before starting the engines until completion of the final checklist when the flight ends.

The FAA is proposing that data recorders measure the aircraft’s primary flight control movements, and how hard the pilots move the controls, more frequently than is now required. The data recorders also would be required to retain the last 25 hours of recorded information.

These provisions would affect newly manufactured aircraft starting two years from the rule’s effective date.

The proposed rule formalizes current FAA policy that both types of recorder be housed in separate units (excluding helicopters) and that no single electrical failure disable the recorders.

The proposed rule, published in today’s Federal Register, affects manufacturers and operators of airplanes and helicopters holding certificates for aircraft with 10 or more seats. The FAA estimates that the total cost to operators and manufacturers would be approximately $256 million in today’s dollars.

FMI: www.faa.gov/avr/arm/nprm.cfm?nav=nprm